It Gets Better
by Eurazba
Summary: In a recent akuma attack Chat Noir is stabbed, revealing his identity as Adrien Agreste to the world and leaving Ladybug a complete mess after she carries his body to the ER.
1. Dangereux

It Gets Better

By: Eurazba

Part 1 Chapter 1: Dangereux

A/N: Season 1 was released on Netflix might as well introduce a new Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic.

Warning for violence, blood mention, and trauma. Get ready for this torture-fest kids.

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The akuma were getting more aggressive.

Not only for how they were as akuma, but also for their typical actions as people, Papillon had been targeting more and more criminals, psychopaths, and morally questionable people. People who would hurt them outside of being an akuma, people who hold years and years of rage within them. They were much harder to fight, Ladybug knew that, the public knew that, but luckily she and Chat had at least a couple of years of experience under their belt.

The akuma still managed to hurt Ladybug and Chat Noir; their kwamis could only protect them so much from being slammed into walls and being cut by flying projectiles. Nothing was ever too devastating though, as the mysterious light Ladybug used at the end of every fight healed much of the damage, but it did leave for many a sore night.

So with this adjustment to enemies that were more and more difficult to take on, one would think that she and Chat Noir would be more careful, wiser to their strategies, or at the very least the police would help them out more. Their trust in the abilities of Ladybug and Chat Noir were concerning to Ladybug, because it had become more and more evident to her that they needed the police's help, at least for locking up the increasingly dangerous criminals who were being chosen by the akumas.

That's just where they were, Sunday afternoon, fighting an akuma with the police and media chasing after them. Few were worried about getting hurt, having become reliant on the mysterious light to heal them. With fierce vigor, Ladybug and Chat Noir contained the akuma and purified it, her mysterious light fixing the damaged building near them. The man who had been turned into an akuma was curled into himself, shaking hard with eyes wide at what had just happened. He looked around to the police ring that had formed, keeping the public and media from getting to close to the heroes and unknown victim.

Chat had helped him up while Ladybug stood farther back and looked to the police and paramedics coming to check the man. She looked back at Chat and the man, he was scraggily, a thin man with eyes still wide on his unshaven face, Chat held his shaking hand with his own, another on his back to keep him stable. She watched as the man peeked up to Chat for a moment before his expression suddenly changed from that of shock to one of concentrated displeasure.

She watched with horror as the man, who looked frail and unfocused before, grabbed Chat by the wrist and almost expertly twisted around him, pinning Chat's hand behind his back to keep him still. She barely caught sight of the knife slide out of the man's sleeve, smooth and bright as the sun glinted off of it, before it went straight into Chat's abdomen from the side.

There was an unearthly gasp that came from Chat's lips as he immediately leaned back, limp in the man's arms. Everyone in and around the ring froze with shock over what they had just seen.

With horror Ladybug watched as Chat's miraculous let out a long shrill beep and a light began sliding across his body, his transformation was being released. The last of the light flew around and above his head, and a black kwami went flying out of his hand, his ring, his miraculous, and up above Chat's head before his dazed eyes, looking towards the sky.

In Chat Noir's place remained none other than Adrien Agreste.

Ladybug heard a scream, a deafening scream of his name from an unknown source as the man ripped the knife from Chat's now blood soaked shirt and let his body loose. She sprinted towards him, catching him before he completely collapsed to the ground and harshly kicking the man away from them with a spin. He went sliding across the ground and slammed into a nearby car with a severe thump, his bloodstained knife clattering out of his hand.

She looked down with shaky eyes to see Chat; it was Adrien, he was Chat Noir. And right now he was covered in his own blood, limp in her arms, his kwami curled into his chest just balancing there. His eyes were wide and his breathing disgustingly harsh, he could hardly move his head to look at her, but he did.

 _What just happened?_ His eyes asked her with the utmost horror.

She didn't know, she didn't know what had just happened, but, she knew one thing.

"A hospital! We need to get him to a hospital!" She cried out in a voice that sounded startlingly like the one who had screamed out his name before.

The police and people surrounding them were closer than before but remained still, all in shock over seeing what had conspired before them. She was barely able to catch sight of the man who had stabbed him- Adrien, Chat -surrounded by his own ring of police who were holding the man down and arresting him. There were people everywhere, so close together in worry and question that the ambulance would not be able to get out from the crowd in time; she was running out of time, matters would have to be taken into her own hands.

"Where's the nearest hospital?" She asked worriedly looking to the police right in front of her.

"Uh, j-just around the corner and then a block away," He stuttered out, looking intently at Chat's blood covered body in her arms.

"What's its name?" She hissed, holding onto Chat even tighter, she was going to have to carry him there herself. The police gave her the name and she looked back down to Chat, "Hang on."

Of all things he put his free hand not pinned against her body around his kwami and gave her a light nod, his eyes were half closed as she realized he was struggling to stay conscious.

She wrapped her one arm tighter around him while grabbing her yo-yo, it launched out from her hand and wrapped around a chimney from a nearby building. They were off with a bounce, swinging away from the crowd that watched in wonder as they went around the corner and rushed for the nearby hospital.

She burst through the door of the ER, almost shattering the glass of the automatic doors when they didn't open quite fast enough. She called for help and they were immediately surrounded by the doctors and nurses on call.

"He was stabbed," Ladybug informed them as they brought a gurney out and gently lifted him onto it. They asked her who he was, "Chat N- …A-Adrien, Adrien Agreste," She let out with a croak.

One nurse identified the wound right away and put a cloth over it adding pressure to keep him from bleeding out. Ladybug followed them for a moment before they informed her that she had to let go; of course, she'd have to let go if they wanted to do anything to help them. Chat was barely still conscience and used whatever of his last energy to push his kwami into her hands and slip his ring off for her, she took gentle hold of them and stopped in her place. She looked down at the small objects as he was wheeled away; hearing his silent command from the final gesture, _protect them._

When he and the group of doctors and nurses were gone, it became silent. Startlingly so, as she stared at the unconscious black kwami in her hands and her ears began to ring. Everything had been so fast before, and now it felt like time had stopped. She caught scent of the blood washed across her body, _his_ blood. Her eyes adjusted and she saw it, a darker red than her suit, and covering her so thick she almost couldn't see the spots, nausea waved through her as it finally occurred to her that she was covered in his blood almost as much as he had been covered in it.

Her mind was dragged out of her thoughts of fear and sickness when her earrings beeped, she needed to hide. Hide so that her identity couldn't be revealed like his, hide so that she wouldn't be in danger like he was now. She looked around for a bathroom, out the glass automatic doors she caught sight of the first reporters to catch up to them, a police officer following closely behind to keep them from intruding into the ER and crowding the door likely. A feeling of disgust welled up in her at the thought that they were just people to watched, to be told their secrets to all of the public and put in danger. She turned her head away and saw the bathroom.

Slowly shuffling over to it in the still empty ER entrance and waiting room, she found the door was luckily unlocked and slipped inside it without hearing the calls of "Mademoiselle, Ladybug, Ladybug, wait." The door closed behind her with a quiet click and she locked it with her one free hand.

She was alone, and with a sigh she placed her forehead against the cool metal door, she looked down to see the black kwami and now silver ring still gently cupped in her hand. Her costume was still covered in blood. Another wave of nausea came over her and she quickly put the kwami and ring on the ground as gently as she could before whipping around and heaving into the open toilet. Everything from her stomach was emptied and she felt a mix of better and worse as the bile burned within her throat.

Another couple of dry heaves and her earrings beeped a final time, her transformation ran out, Tikki swirled out of them and zipped right to the side of Chat Noir's unconscious kwami. Coo's and noises of worry came out of Tikki but before Marinette could ask her anything of it she heard a voice from the other side of the door finally.

"Miss Ladybug are you okay?" It asked, she had no idea who was on the other side of the door as she tiredly looked over her shoulder to it, "Do you need medical assistance as well?" They asked, it must have been a nurse.

"N-no, just…startled is all, and nauseous from seeing the, uh, the blood," Marinette mumbled to the nurse on the other side, unsure if they could actually hear her, it sounded quiet so the police must have done well at keeping everyone out.

"I understand. Miss Ladybug I am one of the assistant clerks from the front desk and we need conformation on who that boy was you brought in, we did not hear who in the commotion, so that we can contact any family he has," The clerk calmly informed her, too calm for how Marinette was feeling now but the woman was just doing her job.

"His name," She paused nervous to say it again, "His name is Adrien Agreste," She told the clerk, hoping they would go away with that answer and leave Marinette to wallow and realize what Chat Noir being Adrien Agreste truly meant.

"Do you have any contacts for him?" She had no such luck.

"No," Unfortunately she didn't, only his cell phone number, which couldn't be used to contact his father.

His father, who, unless he had been watching the news as well, knew nothing about his only son's critical condition, nothing about his being Chat Noir, nothing about his secret being revealed and how much danger he was in right now and in the future. When the man found out he would likely be devastated, and angry, angry at her for not protecting him. How could she let such a thing happen?

A concerned sound came from the clerk, "I-I'm sorry but we cannot contact Gabriel Agreste then, he's only used private doctors and we don't have a file for him or anyone of his family."

Marinette knew what this meant, she would have to be the one to inform him. She would have to go to his house, she could get there the fastest, and tell Gabriel Agreste the terrible news, face him on her own. She slowly pulled herself up from the toilet, looking over at Tikki, still next to Chat's kwami, who had already eaten the cookie she always had on hand in her purse; when had she done that? Marinette shook her head, glad by her companion's thinking ahead.

"I'll go and tell him," She finally said to the clerk.

They gave a quick "thanks" and probably headed back to their desk. Marinette flushed the toilet and moved to wash her hands. Looking down at her hands under the water she remembered that her costume was gone, a shaking fear racked through her, she looked further down at her clothes. By the miracle that was her miraculous, her normal clothes were free of any blood Chat left on her costume, relief flooded through her but also wonder. _Where did it go?_ She thought while looking at Tikki. She turned back to her hands and finished washing them, bringing herself to look in the mirror.

Blood.

There was blood on her face, she realized with horror. She nearly screamed as her eyes bugged out of her head at the sight and she scrambled to grab a paper towel and dampen it. She needed to get the blood off of her face. She scrubbed hard with her shaking hands, watching herself intently so that she got every last drop off of her face. Her face of course, the one piece of her body that wasn't completely covered during her transformation. She checked her hair worriedly for any blood, but aside from a small piece of her bangs that stuck to her head there was none.

She grasped both sides of the sink tightly and bowed her head, staring shakily into the porcelain surface with harsh breaths. It was gone, all gone, for real this time. She stood there for a good half minute before Tikki of all things spoke up and pulled Marinette from her thoughts.

"Marinette," She whispered, and Marinette lifted her head and made eye contact with Tikki, avoiding the mirror lest she see that she was wrong and that she was still covered in his blood, "After we go tell his father, we need to get Plagg to the healer we went to before."

Plagg, that much have been Chat's kwami's name, she looked over to him next to Tikki, eyes still closed and curled into himself, he showed no signs of movement, which was concerning. Marinette nodded and scooped the two kwami's up as well as the ring.

"You can put the ring and Plagg in your purse for now, my magic will protect them and you can have two hands," Tikki suggested, keeping Marinette from thinking over the ring.

She did as Tikki said and quietly called to her to transform. The magic washed over her and she felt stronger, if only physically. Cautiously she looked down at her costume, it was clean, her suit the same red all around, her spots black; he blood was gone, as if it had never been there to begin with. Marinette knew otherwise.

She reached for the door and slowly unlocked it, fearful for anyone that might be on the other side. It opened and she saw room was mostly empty; she looked at the two clerks sitting behind the desk who had pulled their fearful looks away from the direction of the front door to look at her.

"I'm going to the Agreste residence now," She notified the clerks while turning to the front doors.

They were crowded with police, reporters, and the public all alike. How foolish of her to think that she could simply leave out the front door. She turned to the clerks with concern, one of them stood up.

"There's a side door the employees enter through, you can leave through there," The clerk said, gesturing for Ladybug to follow them.

Silently they came to the door way that opened to a small alleyway. Ladybug gave her thanks before swinging up to the roof tops to scout out the Agreste residence from where she was. A number of blocks away she saw the Eiffel Tower and began heading towards it, swinging from rooftop to rooftop. She caught site of the huge house and with one final leap landed on the stone wall that surrounded the residence.

Already there were some reporters nearing the gate, they started calling out for her when they saw her, asking questions about Adrien's wellbeing and if she knew his identity. She swore she heard someone ask why she didn't protect him, why she _let_ him get injured, but she turned away from them. They couldn't have really said that could they? She shook her head and jumped the fence, realizing that her chance to talk to the camera in the front gate and leave was gone. Trespassing will have to do, especially when the homeowner's son was currently at the ER. She knocked hard on the front door of the mansion and tried to ignore the shouting of the reporters behind the gate.

There was silence, and she worried that no one heard her, but there was no doorbell for her to ring. A moment later and the lock clicked from the other side. A huge gorilla-like man opened the door, Adrien's chauffer, she recognized. He looked mildly alarmed at the small crowd of reporters by the gate and gave her a criticizing gaze that questioned why she was here with the reporters mussing up the peaceful home.

"Is Adrien's father home? Please I need to talk to him, his son is in the hospital," She rushed out.

The chauffer's look quickly changed to one of concern as he stood aside and let her in the house. She heard a clack of heels against marble and Ladybug saw Gabriel's assistant to her right, rising from her desk with her own look of concern.

"Is that true?" She asked moving towards Ladybug, apparently having heard what she said.

"Yes, he was stabbed in an akuma attack. Please, his father needs to know," Ladybug pleaded with her.

The woman looked at her with the utmost horror, "Stabbed?!" She practically screamed out, Ladybug nodded, the woman frowned, "Gabriel is in a business meeting on the other end of town, but I can call him… What hospital is Adrien at?"

Ladybug told her its name, not remembering the cross streets, the woman rushed behind her desk and likely typed in the name of the hospital to find its exact location. The chauffer who had left without Ladybug realizing it returned and tossed a coat over the woman's desk.

"Did you admit him to the ER?" She asked, again she nodded and the woman quickly punched in a number to her desk phone and impatiently waited for it to pick up.

It did, and Ladybug heard the quiet voice of who she guessed was the call clerk for the ER greeting her and informing her that she called the front desk of the hospital's ER room. The woman worriedly asked for information about Adrien, telling the desk who she was and confirming that he was really there, the clerk answered her questions and Gabriel's assistant notified them that she and Adrien's father would be heading there soon, she slammed the phone down and began punching in another number. The woman hit the call button and once again waited impatiently for the phone to pick up, it took much longer. Ladybug heard angry mumblings of "Come on, pick up" from the woman.

When Adrien's father finally picked up, Ladybug realized that she had no reason to still be here; Adrien's father was being told now that his son was in the hospital. She had no reason to join them as she had already been there, no reason to wait and worry merely a few rooms away of whether or not he was going to live; she felt her heart rate increase. Besides she needed to take Plagg to the old healer. Adrien's father yelled from the other end of the phone loud enough for the three of them to hear, she had no desire to be within the vicinity of his father when he inevitably found out the whole story as he would undoubtedly blame her.

She began to back away as the woman once again slammed down the phone when the conversation was done and shoved on her jacket in a most violent matter.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," She said.

The woman and Chauffer looked at her as they headed to another part of the house, likely a garage of some sort. There was a brief question of "You're not coming with?" that crossed their minds before it occurred to them that she may have other injured person's families to warn. They nodded and thanked her for notifying them of what had happened and she flew out the front door to her last destination.

She couldn't remember where the old man's place was but something told her to check her yo-yo. From a roof top at least two blocks from the Agreste's residence, away from all the reporters who had gathered there, she popped open her yo-yo. On the screen there was a little red dot on a map, where she was, and a little green dot a good distance away, it must have been the old man's location. She followed it, occasionally stopping to check that she was going the right direction as well as wasn't being followed, until she landed on his building with a resounding thud. Into a nearby windowless alley she released her transformation and followed Tikki's lead into the building. Up, up, up the stairs until she faced the door that Tikki reminded was the door to the healer.

Marinette remembered this, the door, the similar feeling of concern for the safety of her friend, was this the only way she would ever see the man? She was about to knock on the door but it opened suddenly, as if it knew she was there, revealing the old man standing before her.

"Come in, come in," He instructed, stepping to the side so she could do so.

The door closed behind them and he led her to the middle of the room where they both sat down, folding their legs underneath. She gave no excuses this time, far too aware now that this man at least knew of the existence of kwamis, and possibly their identities as superheroes. Tikki flew from her pocket and onto Marinette's shoulder as she popped open her purse and gently pulled out Plagg. The old man looked over him once he was placed on the plush mat before them.

"He was stabbed while transformed," She explained, her words but a whisper.

The old man hummed at the information, reaching his hands out to hover over the black kwami's form while he let out a low chant. Marinette sat still, watching and listening intently as he concentrated hard on his healing incantation. After several long, drawn out minutes of this the old man pulled away his hands and let out a sigh to relax his shoulders, Marinette stared and waited for Plagg to spring up good as new like Tikki did, she frowned when he didn't.

"He will need a couple of days to rest and sleep," the old man explained, sitting up straight and staring ahead, "Keep him somewhere safe and warm, and have some food nearby when he comes to."

"Is there anything in particular he eats," She asked, trying to keep her mind focused and hoping the man would have an answer.

"He's a particular fellow, always preferred smelly cheeses to anything else," The old man answered wistfully.

Marinette briefly recalled how Adrien's bag, and sometimes he, would always smell faintly of Camembert, she always questioned it before but it made sense now. That cheese was a bit expensive, which was concerning over how much the kwami would need to eat, Tikki could easily down a batch of cookies in two particularly busy days. She sighed remembering that they at least had one wheel in their fridge at the moment and hoped that it would be enough for the time being.

They sat quietly together, Marinette taking a moment to breathe, she had done everything she could at the moment and now there was nothing left but to wait. A sudden weariness overcame her, after everything that had happened she was tired, but her mind was still racing with worry.

"I know you are concerned for him," The old man spoke softly, breaking Marinette's thoughts, she looked up to him, he smiled sympathetically, "It was lucky that he was still transformed while it happened, his kwami's magic protected him from being lost right away," She knew what that meant, lost, dying, "But know that you are both strong, and you were chosen because you are strong. The actions you took today were smart, and I know you want to worry, to do more, but you've done all that you can today. You need your rest as well as he will when he comes to."

Marinette almost couldn't believe how sure the old man was that Chat was going come out of this alive, while he may have known what had happened already and what she had done, did he really know how much blood had come from Chat? How much blood she had been covered in?

"Marinette," He said in a soft voice, placing his hands of her shoulder and bringing her attention to him. Her view came back into focus and she stared into his dark, kind eyes, "You need to go home, you're parents are worried about you, and you need rest."

Her parents, of course, she had been out of the house for too long, and they most likely had seen on the news what had happened to Chat. They didn't really know where she was and were probably riddled with worry.

"Right," She breathed, trying to will herself to stand.

He let go of her shoulders and handed her the sleeping black kwami, she could see him breathing now, gentle and paced, relief washed through her at seeing some kind of positive development. Placing him gently in her purse she found the ability to finally stand, the old man doing so with her.

"Through the window," he said tilting his head to the window behind her.

She nodded back and for the first time ever transformed in front of another human being. This man was someone trusted by the kwamis, and likely already knew of her and Chat's identities, there was no harm in revealing to him what he already knew. He opened the balcony door for her, she gave a polite "good bye" and a "thank you" before once again leaping away.

She made her way home, slower this time and watching for any reporters, there were none. The day was still bright, too bright for how she felt, but she continued forward until she landed at the side door of her building. No one was in sight so she released her transformation for hopefully the last time that day and slowly pushed the door open. She headed over to the back entrance of their bakery, her father was by the ovens, watching the little television attentively as it displayed the news. Her mother was no doubt at the front counter, but still listening to the news broadcast since the volume was turned up much louder than it would typically be. Her father noticed her enter the door and jumped up.

"Marinette!" He cried pulling her into a tight embrace.

Marinette hugged him back tightly as her mother came rushing into the back of the bakery, she gave her own cry before joining the hug. Marinette felt good, she was grounded in their hug, and she was reminded that she was safe, even if Chat was not; she was here, she was here. Her parents released her.

"We were so worried about you!" "Where were you?" "Have you heard what happened?" They asked question after question.

"I-I'm fine," She said with a small smile, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes over their concern, stars she loved them. She was so happy to see them safe, even though there was no reason for them not to be, "I, I did hear what happened-well…N-no, not just hear. I… I saw what happened, I was there."

"What?!" Her parents both screamed, well over the volume of the television.

"I happened, um, to be watching the fight, and, I was in the crowd, and I saw it," she lied easily, "I'm sorry I didn't call you when it happened, I was just so… so shocked when I saw it. And when everyone left, I walked home. I'm sorry I took so long."

She looked at the little clock near one of the ovens, it was almost an hour since she was at the ER, had it really been that long?

"Oh, honey, we're so sorry," Her parents began to coo, still rubbing their hands over her shoulders as a way to comfort her.

"So… so am I," She mumbled looking away, she sighed and ran her hand through her hair, "I just want to go to bed."

"Of course honey, we understand," But they didn't, they hadn't seen it for real, they didn't know that _she_ was the one to carry him to the ER, that she was the only other one covered in his blood, "We're just so glad to hear that at least you're safe."

Marinette gave them a light nod as they pulled her into another hug and peppered her face in kisses.

She headed up to her room, placed Plagg into the little fluffy bed she had built for Tikki, who curled up next to him in worry, and collapsed into her bed.

Everything was finally still, she was home, and she was alone, aside from the quiet resting kwamis and her thoughts.

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A/N: Thanks to my love Tangledfire Blac for Beta reading this and fixing my phrasing so its legible and tolerable, go check her out on here and wherever else!

This fic is going to be fun because if you couldn't tell from this chapter, it's going to be a long one, longer than I've ever really attempted. Chapters will for the most part update every two weeks on Fridays. That will hopefully give me enough time to update on a regular schedule, I have up to 5 chapters written now but I'm tired, in college, and am a lazy individual overall, we'll see how it turns out.

Please review with your thoughts, thank you.


	2. The Longest Night

Chapter 2: The Longest Night

She tried to sleep, but sleep never came.

She was alone, and her mind finally took the opportunity to assess all of what had just happened.

What had happened?

Chat Noir was stabbed, _Adrien_ was stabbed.

It was unfathomable to her, that someone as cool and refined as Adrien Agreste could double as someone as ludicrous and outgoing as Chat Noir. Though in some absurd part of her mind it made perfect sense. All those times she would need to get up and leave for an akuma and he was the only other person who would also need to go, and all those bruises that would always show up after a particularly rough akuma, Adrien was just as secretive as she was.

She recalled their first encounter with the so called hero Volpina, Adrien was never in any real danger then, that's why Chat was so confident in calling her bluff. Adrien was Chat Noir the whole time.

The whole time. For nearly two years Chat Noir sat, almost literally, under her nose. How ridiculous it was. How ridiculous she was. Her intense crush on Adrien Agreste had since died down from that first year of knowing him, as she matured and realized she had built little of an actual foundation for a relationship with him. Also for the fact that she considered that she did fancy Chat Noir, if only a little bit, they worked well together and she enjoyed the time she would have with him. But they were the same person, and they were both in the hospital, both possibly going to die because of her, because she didn't protect them, because she didn't protect _him_.

She rolled over at the thought rearing its ugly head again. It was her fault, all her fault that he got hurt. She was supposed to protect him, she was his partner and the one who always had his back. Except when it really counted. And now his blood had stained her as punishment for not protecting him.

Again, his blood; every time she tried to close her eyes she would see it. His blood staining every square inch of them, it covered her face and hands and would not go away no matter how hard she scrubbed. Every time she would close her eyes she could see his distraught face, turning to her and his eyes blaming her for everything. No, she couldn't keep her eyes shut long, she didn't want to see his face again. She would imagine his insides spilling out and onto her from the wound, and no matter how hard she tried she could not put him back together. He was just pieces, bits and pieces that would fall further and further apart whenever she would so much as touch them. She lied on her bed for a good hour, staring at the wall and shaking just trying to get the images out of her head.

Every piece of her felt terrible as she worried over and over again for him. She couldn't help but wonder and anguish over his possible current condition despite what the old man had said. However she made no move to check the news, no attempt to actually find out if her fears were true, that she was going to be alone as a superhero from then on.

Were they really that super if they could so easily be hurt? If their lives could so easily be stripped from them? If their blood could so easily be spilled through the thin membrane of their skin? She looked to Plagg.

He did not bleed. Were kwamis even able to bleed? He did not appear to have a physical wound, he simply lost consciousness despite his second skin that was Chat's costume being broken. Was the costume really a physical part of them, or simply an illusion that beheld no abilities of protection, their increased strength being all that really prevented them from dying under immediate impact? The old healer said that Plagg's magic supposedly protected Chat, but from what, not dying sooner? She did not know, she didn't know anything; all she knew was that they could not hold their own against a knife to vital organs.

They could die just as easily as any other human.

And they were just that, humans. Humans who had been chosen by some unforgiving other who had decided that they were somehow more worthy than anyone else to receive these gifts.

Or were somehow more expendable than everyone else.

She shook her head. No. No one was more expendable than anyone else, they were all important pieces to the unforgiving puzzle called life.

Which is why she had so easily sacrificed him. Why she had waited to run towards him after the knife went into him and not when the man had first changed expression, had first grabbed Chat's wrist and twisted him around, not when she had first caught sight of the knife. The scene was playing over and over in her head, slower and slower each time. How could she so easily sacrifice him?

She shook her head and rolled around again, she needed a distraction. Crawling out of bed with her useless blankets slipping off her, she grabbed her phone and sat on her ladder. The time showed 5 am when she turned on the device, its light blinding her in the dark temporarily. An exhausted sigh came from her as she put her head into her lap, she had been up all night, and with the sun just barely peeking into the sky there was no way she was going to attempt to sleep again.

She rubbed her eyes and brought her head back up to her phone, she headed to the Ladyblog, one place she had been avoiding all through the night. She didn't know why, there was no doubt that Alya had caught the whole fight and everything after on video, she didn't want to see it but she found herself scrolling past an article posted and to where ever the video was. She didn't get far as just under the article was a paragraph of text that caught Marinette's attention. It was Alya, talking about the recent event of course.

"I'm sorry I've been gone for a couple of hours everyone. I know you all want to talk about what's happened, and I'll get to your submissions eventually, but not today. I'm sorry everyone, it's just, Adrien was my friend, I saw him every day in class, we've hung out together and done projects together. And seeing him like that, it scared me, it scared me beyond all belief and I'm so worried about him. It's been a bit of a startling revelation that he and Ladybug are not only people that you might run into on the street or in a shop, but also people that we know and love. People that are our friends, our families, they are very real. I hope Adrien comes out of this and has a speedy recovery, and that Ladybug, wherever she is, is also okay and safe. I'm sorry for all the inactivity, but I'm going to go lie down now."

 _I'm not okay._ Marinette thought, but still managed to feel a flutter of light that Alya wasn't just gossiping and speculating things about this like she imagined so many others were. She briefly looked down at the comments, there were hundreds, cropped short by the little box, full of people giving their sympathies to Adrien, Ladybug, and Alya.

She continued to scroll and faced herself with the video Alya had caught, right under her paragraph, with nothing in between as she had been gone. The little caption by Alya under the video read "Nothing is good about this video but I'm uploading it here so I can get rid of it from my phone. This is fair warning to all of you as it is very violent at the end." Another hundred comments underneath, Marinette didn't glance at them, afraid of what they might be. Instead her thumb hovered over the video, ready to press it, ready to watch the scene that had been playing in her mind over and over all night.

Fear and horror caught in her throat at the prospect of seeing it all happen again, seeing her failure and his injury all over again, she quickly swiped her thumb down the screen and the blog went flying back up to the top. She noticed the top of the most recent post, the article she passed, against her better judgement she scrolled down to read it.

"Late night the ER has reported that after nearly 4 hours of intensive care and emergency surgery, Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir has now reached a stable condition and is resting in the hospital room. He remains unconscious for now but has no problems from his injury otherwise…"

Marinette stopped reading, relief washed over her from the news, he was alive. He was alive and safe and protected. Marinette didn't think she had anything left in her but she began to cry, out of happiness of all things. He was okay, he was okay, thank the stars he was alive. She gripped her hair hard while crying, trying to ground herself. A good few minutes of this and she had calmed down, her tears stopped flowing and her body stopped shaking.

 _Now what?_ She thought to herself. Should she go and visit him? No, she couldn't do that, he still wasn't completely awake. And she didn't want to see him like that, covered in tubes, surrounded by machines all monitoring his health. She needed to wait, wait until she was able to bear seeing him in such a condition, until he was awake.

She sighed looking out the window again, the sky was just a bit lighter, and it was looking to be a bright, cloudless day. Couldn't the weather just give her this one grievance? No, but she figured she might as well start slowly getting ready for school, something to distract her mind.

She got up and meandered her way to the bathroom, relieving herself and getting ready for the day. She stared hard at her hands while she washed them, as if daring them to suddenly be covered in blood again, also to keep from looking up at the mirror before her. No doubt she looked like an exhausted mess, hair loose and askew, deep bags under her unwashed, puffy, and tear-ridden face. She grabbed a washcloth and dampened it before pressing it against her face, it felt nice and cooling against her hot cheeks. She took a breath in the moist cloth, barely taking in any air and suddenly feeling the compulsion to scream into it.

Yes, she wanted to scream. Scream loud and harsh until her voice went hoarse; to let every last piece of emotions and exhaustion out of her body until she collapsed. A few seconds passed and she stayed silent, not wanting her parents to come running for her in worry, they didn't deserve that.

Instead she pulled the washcloth away from her face and dared herself to look in the mirror. It was just as she thought, tired eyes, red cheeks, and puffiness from her crying that had only gone down a little bit. She wiped the rest of her face harshly and dried it with another, dry, washcloth, she looked a bit better, but her eyes betrayed all. She haphazardly brushed her teeth and hair, not even bothering with putting it up in ponytails before heading back to her room to get dressed. The sun was shining and she realized she had not changed out of her clothes from yesterday, how foolish of her, wanting to go straight to bed but not even changing into the proper clothing for it.

With and deep breath she changed and heard Tikki calling for her.

"Marinette? Marinette?" She asked from up on the bed, probably trying to discern Marinette from her unmade pile of blankets.

"Down here," She whispered back, and Tikki came floating down.

"You're up early."

"I couldn't sleep," Marinette answered plainly, going over to her book bag and checking that everything was there.

"Oh I'm so sorry Marinette, why didn't you wake me? I could have at least gave you company," Marinette shrugged in response, not really sure why she didn't. Tikki looked at what she was doing, "You're going to school? Are you sure Marinette? You should rest, your parents will understand if you don't want to go."

"No. No, no, I'm alright," Marinette shook her head still staring in the book bag, it had everything she needed, "I need a distraction today."

Tikki nodded solemnly while Marinette went to check that everything in her purse was in order. She popped it open, wallet, keys, tissues, lip balm…

Chat Noir's ring.

It had completely slipped her mind. She picked it up and twiddled the silver object between her fingers. The same silver ring she had always noticed on Adrien but never asked about, the object that, partnered with Plagg, gave him the abilities of Chat Noir, the ability to destroy with your hands. It was a frightening ability, one that almost appropriately contrasted Ladybug's ability to create. Creation and destruction, but she had been the one to destroy him.

"You should keep the miraculous jewelry with you at all times," Tikki spoke up suddenly, looking between Marinette and the ring she so curiously observed.

Marinette knew the silent words that lay under Tikki's statement.

 _Put it on._

She didn't want to, she didn't want to have to wear this constant reminder of her failure on her hand, but something deep in her did. It wanted to feel the power of Chat Noir, it wanted to transform and feel what it was like to be him, to hold his power and face it against her own. She shook her head and quietly slipped the oversized ring onto her middle finger of her right hand, it shrunk down to fit her finger comfortably. Too comfortably, she began to fiddle with it and spin it around her finger in nervousness.

"What about Plagg?" She asked, the old man said to keep him in a safe warm area, and the constant shifting of her purse would hardly be the place for him to stay for most of the day.

"He can stay here for now. He still has at least a day before he wakes up and it will be good for him to stay in one place, especially somewhere comfy," Tikki answered calmly.

"Do you not want to be with him?" Marinette asked suddenly, not sure why she was doing so.

"Oh believe me, I do, I don't want to leave his side at all while he's in this condition. But I _need_ to stay with you," Tikki said, downtrodden.

Marinette knew what that meant too. Tikki _needed_ to be with her in case there was another akuma attack. Now would be a prime time for Papillon to strike, while she was alone and distraught over the safety of her friend, but he could strike in another way, she thought with horror. Papillon knew Chat's real identity now, _everyone_ knew his real identity now, including her; he could easily sneak into Adrien's hospital and try to steal the miraculous from him while he was incapacitated. Adrien was smart though and had given his miraculous to her. Papillon would then have to try to threaten for information about where they were, but Adrien wouldn't know, he didn't know Ladybug's real identity, nobody did thankfully.

She fretted over Adrien's safety again until Tikki snapped her out of it. Marinette twisted Chat's ring around again and hoped that he was okay, and that there would be no akuma attacks.

It was almost 7 when she glanced at the clock again and shuffled down the stairs for something to eat. She wasn't hungry at all, but she needed to keep up her energy.

Her mother was in the kitchen, also making something for the day, she was shocked to see Marinette.

"You're awake and all dressed."

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well," Marinette mumbled, looking away from her mother at the partial lie, she didn't want her to worry too much.

Her mother cooed over her and pulled her into a hug, informing her that she didn't have to go to school if she didn't want to. Marinette gave a similar answer to what she told Tikki. Her mother nodded in understanding and sat her down so she could make Marinette something to eat.

A slow and full meal later, her mother insisted she needed to make up for missing dinner last night, and Marinette had everything of hers packed and ready to go. She left through the bakery, giving her father a kiss goodbye and heading out the front door.

The air outside was brisk and cool, slowly warming up to the bright sun rising in the cloudless sky. It felt nice, being outside in the fresh air and walking to school. Past a couple of blocks and around the corner, and there she saw it. The school had a small line of reporters next to the front opening, trying to ask student's questions as they entered the building. She felt vile rise through her chest at seeing them, and the police keeping them from getting too close to the students. Couldn't they just leave her alone? But no, this was Adrien's lycée, and that meant they had to know everything they could about his life, about the people who know and are worried sick about him.

"Marinette?" That was Alya's voice. She turned to her right to see Alya approaching, "Oh my stars, Marinette you look horrible!"

Marinette bowed her head and looked away at the statement, she knew that, and she knew Alya would want to know why, but Marinette wouldn't be able to give the whole truth.

"I wasn't able to sleep well," She murmured in answer.

"Oh honey," Alya cooed, pulling her into a tight hug.

Marinette held her tightly, hoping she wouldn't say anything else, ask her anything else, just be there with her. Stars she was so glad Alya was safe as well.

Alya let her go but still held her hand as she looked at the reporters lined up next to the school entrance, she frowned.

"They're here, of course," Marinette heard Alya mutter under her breath.

They walked up to the entrance of the school close together, giving a wide birth to the reporters asking them a barrage of questions.

"Did you know Adrien?" "Are you in his class?" "Did he show any signs that he was Chat Noir?"

"Why didn't you protect him?"

Marinette whipped her head around, did she hear that right? Fear rose in her throat that a reporter may have discovered her identity until Alya pushed her head back down and pulled them forward.

"Don't look at them Marinette, we don't need to talk to them, it's alright," Alya whispered to her as they made their way in the building and to class.

Marinette tried her best to ignore them, sure that her mind was playing tricks on her.

They approached their class and Marinette could hear the quiet murmur of the few students that were there, they went silent when she entered the room. Everyone was looking at Marinette and her haggard appearance. She turned away and followed Alya up to their seats together, slowly beginning to spin the ring around her finger again. There was another moment of silence following before everyone began to quietly talk amongst themselves. She tried her best to ignore them and instead focused on the students walking past their door to their own class and her other class mates entering the room.

Most everyone was in the class by the time Nino entered, again there was silence as Marinette saw that he looked just as exhausted as her. Marinette was shocked for a moment, she hadn't even thought about Nino, and how selfish of her that she didn't, Nino was Adrien's _best friend_. She felt terrible as she realized that it didn't even occur to her to go tell Nino, to see if he was okay, she left him in the dark. How selfish of her.

Alya got up and went over to hug him. He accepted the hug but looked straight at Marinette as he did, bothered by the fact that she was just as exhausted as he was. And why shouldn't he be. Marinette didn't have the same relationship with Adrien that Nino did, Marinette was just some classmate of his. They didn't hang out on their own together, not like Nino and Adrien did. Alya released him from the hug and gave a similar coo to her boyfriend that she did with Marinette earlier before giving him a kiss on the head. They went to their seats and sat waiting for class to start, Nino giving a grave look to the empty seat next to him, the seat that was always reserved for Adrien, the one area that Marinette had been avoiding looking at most.

The class' quiet talking died down once again when their teacher entered the room and class was about to start. Everyone was there except Chloé, but the silence was welcome, Marinette didn't want to hear anything she might have to say over Adrien's situation. Their teacher nervously cleared their throat.

"I know all of you have probably heard the news, and I know that many of you are very worried for Adrien," They glanced at Marinette and Nino specifically before looking back to the whole class, "But I just want to thank you all for being here, ready to learn."

An unenthusiastic wave of agreement went through the class in response, but their teacher did nothing to fight it. With a solemn nod they went into their lesson.

* * *

The day had been long and Marinette tried her best to focus on the lesson but her mind kept wandering to Adrien. The same worries repeated over and over in her head, it didn't help that Alya kept her phone on her desk and would offhandedly check it whenever it lit up with a news article update. She knew what it was for; everyone was waiting for him to wake up. Their teacher said nothing about it as they mirrored the student's worry.

Marinette ate lunch with Alya and Nino, Alya insisting upon being with both of them to know that they're okay. Marinette and Nino ate little, Alya being the one more to push both of them to have something in order to keep up their strength. Nino mostly smoked during lunch and kept glancing at Marinette, bothered by how she almost mirrored his silence and depression. He wanted to say something, she knew, but also knew that he wouldn't say anything in front of Alya or in public for the matter.

At the end of the day their teacher called Marinette, Nino, and Sabrina up to the front desk. Alya waited by the door for Marinette and Nino as the other students quietly filed out of the room, the three of them had agreed on spending the night together in order to keep company. Their teacher waited until most of the students had left before they spoke.

"I know that you two and Chloé," they looked to Sabrina, "Are especially worried about your friend Adrien. So for the time being I'm going to give the three of you a brief extension on your homework over the week so you can recuperate. Sabrina can you deliver this message and today's work to Chloé?"

Sabrina agreed and their teacher dismissed the three of them. Nino and Marinette left with Alya, all holding hands tightly together and rushing past the reporters who had calmed down since that morning but were still there. Nino was livid by their presence and Marinette almost expected him to yell at them if Alya wasn't pulling them along so quickly.

They decided to stay at Nino's place as his parents were worried about him being out all night and wanted him home. They stopped at Marinette's so she could run up and grab a sleeping bag, checking on Plagg while doing so, he was still asleep, curled up in the little bed. Marinette worried for a moment that he would wake up while she was gone but Tikki assured her that he won't and that he would be fine in the meantime. She told her parents that she and Alya were heading to Nino's for the night and they both waved her off with a kiss and a wish to stay safe.

She, Alya, and Nino popped by Alya's home so that she could do the same before they all made their way to Nino's. His parents greeted the three of them warmly and worriedly, asking how all three of them were before they headed up to Nino's room. Marinette had been to Nino's place a couple of times for projects and to hang out, but she had rarely been up to his room, and never whilst he was most likely angry at her. She sat awkwardly on the ground with them as Nino dragged a few blankets off his bed and tossed them to Alya and Marinette while wrapping himself in one.

He leaned against his bed looking down at his feet and Alya shuffled over to him to wrap one of her arms around his shoulders while beckoning Marinette to come so that she could do the same for her. Marinette grabbed one of the blankets and draped it over her and Alya while leaning on her. It was silent between the three of them, just their quiet breathing and the soft shift of a blanket. Alya said nothing with them for a while, rubbing her thumb over Marinette and Nino's shoulders in comfort.

Marinette was so glad that Alya was there to be her rock; it was bad that she couldn't tell her everything but Marinette was just so relieved to have her there, to have Alya with her. She knew it was selfish, with Alya having to take care of both Marinette and Nino, but she was more than capable, and Marinette didn't want to make her leave.

After some time, Alya finally gave a sigh, deciding it was time to talk again.

"Did you get any sleep?" She asked Nino, turning towards him.

"Some," he mumbled, "Only a couple of hours."

Alya tsked at him before turning to Marinette and asking her the same thing.

"No." Marinette answered simply.

"What, Mari. None? No sleep at all?" Alya fretted.

Nino let out a huff and Marinette felt her hands begin to nervously twirl Chat's ring under her blanket.

"No, I couldn't," Marinette whispered, she didn't give any other explanation but she could feel Nino's want for one as he looked at her from the edge of his eyes.

"You two really are quite a handful. You should get some sleep now then," Alya scolded them.

"I'm not tired," Nino said, and Marinette nodded.

Alya let out an exasperated huff and shifted between them, "Come on, get up. I'm getting you two some tea," she got out from between them and went marching out of Nino's room.

They were alone.

Marinette awkwardly leaned against Nino's bed, still spinning Chat's ring around her finger. She could hear Nino's irritation next to her as he tapped his finger against the ground, with each tap he got more and more aggravated.

"Ni-"

"What makes you so special?" He suddenly snapped, throwing his arms into the air and spinning to glare at her, "You and Adrien aren't even close, you weren't friends like he and I were! What make you so damn special that you got noooo sleep last night, that's you're almost as much a mess as me?" He growled, dragging out his "o" in a very mocking tone.

Marinette shifted away from him, unsure of how to answer and afraid of how Nino was acting.

"I… I saw it," She uttered out. He pinched his eyebrows in question, waiting for her to explain, "I was there, I saw him, uh, I-I saw it happen with my own eyes."

She lowered her head but couldn't take her eyes off Nino. She watched as his eyes widened and his body leaned back in horrified realization at what she said. He looked blankly off to one end of the room in thought before pinching his eyebrows together again.

"Alya was there too, she caught it all on video, and she's not reacting nearly as bad as you are," He stated, shoulders squared and wanting an explanation.

Marinette felt herself panic, her breathing increased and she twirled Chat's ring faster as she realized that she couldn't possibly explain herself without giving away her secret. Stars, was this how she was going to be exposed, she couldn't possibly let it come to this. She needed to say something, anything!

"D-different people, re… different people react to th-things i-in different ways," She managed to croak out in her nervous breakdown.

She didn't look at Nino, instead electing to look at an empty space on his hardwood floor. She knew he must have been glaring at her.

"What?" He hissed, but she didn't, no, couldn't repeat herself.

By the saving grace that was Alya, she came into the room with a little tray, announcing to them that she had tea. She set down the tray and carefully handed the hot mugs of tea to Nino and Marinette; Marinette having to stop fiddling with Chat's ring in order to properly lift her barely shaking hands from underneath the blanket and take the tea. Nino seemed to drop the topic but something told her that it would most certainly come up again. She calmly took a deep breath of the warm tea in her hands while Alya sat back down between them and draped the blanket over her lap, Sleepytime tea, of course.

The rest of the night was spent in quiet chats about aimless things, eating dinner with Nino's family, and soft music playing while Alya worked on the homework that she didn't get extended time for. It was calming being with her friends, even if it was tense between her and Nino, but gradually, she felt herself relax over the night until she finally fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: I know I said I'd update every two weeks but I was just so excited for this fic that I had to post the next chapter today! Chapter 3 will post in two weeks from now. Ah yes, trauma and worry, what will little Mari do to explain herself?

Again thank you to Tangledfire Blac for Beta reading this!

Please review with what you thought of this chapter, thank you very much.


	3. Awaken

Chapter 3: Awaken

Marinette didn't know when she fell asleep but she did know when she woke up.

Shooting out of the bed, covered in sweat and breathing hard, she practically screamed as she curled into herself. Alya and Nino were woken up immediately by her violent shifting as she began to cry from her nightmare.

"Mari, Mari, honey, what's wrong?" Alya asked from her side, grabbing her shoulders and trying to snap her out of panic and look up.

Marinette couldn't hear her, simply rocking back and forth and letting out half screams through her tightly clenched teeth as tears came pouring down the bridge of her nose.

"Marinette!" Alya began to yell.

Both she and Nino where grabbing onto Marinette, calling out her name and trying to calm her down. After much work, they managed to get her to stop rocking and screaming, tears still dribbled down her face and she was shaking in her curled up position, but she wasn't in complete hysterics.

"Marinette's what wrong? What happened?" Alya asked again, this time much softer.

"I saw it."

"Saw what?" Nino whispered.

"His blood. I saw Adrien's blood," She breathed out in a barely audible voice, she caught Alya and Nino's nervous intakes of breath, "It was all over me, he was dying and there was nothing I could do," She sobbed.

They both went to shhsh her and rubbed circles in her back, Nino having a harder time of doing so as he had to reach around Alya to get to Marinette.

"Shhh, Marinette it's okay. It wasn't real, it was just a nightmare," Alya whispered to Marinette, wrapping herself around her panicking friend, "It's okay, Adrien's safe, he's in the hospital, he's not dying. Marinette, it's okay, it was just a dream it wasn't real."

But it had been real, as real as sun and the sky above her. It was real and she was covered in his blood and he was dying and it was all her fault.

"Shhh. It's okay we're right here, your safe, he's safe," Alya kept quietly chanting out as a way to calm Marinette.

"N-no," She took a deep harsh breath, "H-he's not safe. Everyone knows his identity, everyone knows he's Chat Noir. And Papillon's going to come for him and his miraculous and he's going to kill Adrien's for his miraculous, and it's going to be all my fault because I wasn't there for him."

Alya and Nino both stopped at that. Still holding her, they both repeated the same word with slow realization.

"Papillon."

Marinette's breathing was still harsh and messy as she began hiccupping, but she managed a nod in affirmation.

"Papillon, h-he want's Chat-hic- Noir and Ladybug's mir-miraculous," Marinette messily explained to them what they already somewhat knew, spilling her true fears, "E-everyone knows now that Adrien is Chat N-Noir, in-hic-inclu-cluding Papillon, a-and he's going to try and t-take Chat's miraculous. If he gets in-hic-into the hospital he's going to kill Adrien and steal his miraculous. A-and if they're not th-there, he's going to hurt Adrien for information on where they are until he gets what he needs then he-he's going to k-kill Adrien."

Nino stayed silent and his hand stopped moving on her back in horrified realization. Alya was quick to jump in.

"Shhh, no, no, honey. Adrien's okay, he's safe. The doctors and the police are watching him and Papillon's not going to get in the hospital and he's not going to get Adrien," Alya whispered over and over into Marinette's ears.

It took a good few minutes of this before Marinette finally stopped crying and began to actually calm down enough. Nino's hand continued rubbing circles in her back but they weren't as active now.

Slowly Marinette began to uncurl from herself and Alya loosened her grip around her. Marinette sat up and tried to make out Alya and Nino's faces from the dark room, but her tear burned eyes and still hiccupping made it hard to focus in the minimal light they had.

"Are you feeling better?" Alya asked, calm and slow.

"Y-yes," Marinette breathed. She needed to get up, "I-I'm going to the bathroom."

She sluggishly got out of Nino's bed, Alya still trying to keep her hands on Marinette's back to keep her stable. Nino leaned over and turned on a lamp next to his bed, she nearly fell over at the sudden bright light, but Alya kept her steady. Marinette shakily stepped around the bed and out of Nino's room to the bathroom. She nearly toppled on the toilet and grabbed her head tightly while she sat on it. She focused hard on her breathing, trying to slow down her racing heart, and bringing herself to calm down over all. A good couple of minutes of that and the world stopped swirling and shaking with the light.

She tried to repeat Alya's words in her mind to calm down.

 _He's safe, he's okay, you're okay. It was just a dream._

She stood up and went to wash her hands, there was no blood, it wasn't real. It was just a dream, she looked at Chat's ring. It wasn't just a dream, it was real. She took a wobbly breath, the ring was silver, and on her hand; it was real but it was in the past, it was over. She dried her hands and dragged herself back to Nino's room, his lamp was still on and without their glasses he and Alya squinted at Marinette with concern from his bed as she came and sat on the edge.

She felt their eyes boring into her as she hunched over in exasperation.

"I'm sorry about that," Marinette mumbled.

Alya jumped up right away and crawled across the bed to once again wrap her arms around Marinette, "Marinette, it's okay. You don't need to be sorry about having a nightmare."

She said nothing in response, simply matching her breathing to Alya's and trying not to let the exhausted feeling get to her. She felt Nino's eyes on her, risking a glance, she barely turned her head to him.

He was watching her in fear from his spot, unsure of what he had just seen happen to her and unsure about her words.

"Is… is what you said true?" He asked in a voiceless whisper.

She wanted to deny it, say that it wasn't true, that Adrien was completely safe and that they had nothing to fear. She wanted to give Nino some kind of comfort even with her secrets eating at him, but she couldn't. She couldn't lie about that, she couldn't deny her fears, she couldn't offer Nino any comfort, and for that she was sorry.

"I fear it may be very real," She finally answered him.

He took a sharp intake of breath and held it, looking down at the blankets before him in worry. She noticed Alya suddenly become split, between her boyfriend who was beginning to panic, and her best friend who had just come down from a panic attack and was feeding his fears. Alya elected to drag Marinette completely on the bed, whether she liked it or not, and over to Nino where she could pull him into her other arm and try to calm him down before he got too bad.

"Adrien is okay you guys," Alya said, harsh and firm, "He's safe, he's in the hospital, and Papillon is not going to get him."

Marinette gave a silent nod in agreement, too tired to argue with her, Nino simply bowed his head into her and wrapped his arms around both of them.

They sat there like that for a few minutes, wrapped in each other and trying to relax. Alya eventually saying that they needed to go to sleep again, Marinette felt bad. Alya was exhausted, and it was her fault, her fault for waking up in the middle of the night to a nightmare like some child, her fault that Nino probably had a whole new set of fears to worry over, her fault that Alya had to watch over both of them.

They crawled under the covers again, both Marinette and Nino curled tightly around Alya in comfort and holding each other as well. Nino turned off the lamp and bathed them in darkness once again. Marinette focus on their synchronized breathing, feeling slightly better with each exhale and letting the warmth of being so close together wash over her.

She was safe, and Adrien was safe, she kept trying to repeat in her mind.

She eventually drifted off to sleep once again, letting her own exhaustion overcome her.

* * *

Morning came and Marinette, Alya, and Nino groggily managed to wake up and get themselves ready for the day. Marinette felt good enough to actually eat breakfast with Alya and Nino, her hunger finally having caught up to her. She was almost done with breakfast when she felt her purse wiggle, it must have been her phone, she peeked in the bag to check. Tikki gazed up at her with a great amount of concern in her eyes.

"He's waking up," She heard her kwami mumble.

For a moment Marinette couldn't think of who she was talking about, she couldn't possibly sense when Adrien was waking up, could she? No, that's right, it must be Plagg, Chat's kwami. Her eyes bugged out when she realized what Tikki was talking about. Plagg was waking up. She needed to get to him so he didn't wake up alone and confused in an unfamiliar place without food or his human companion and the jewelry he was bound to. Marinette suddenly shot up from the table in worry, everyone stared at her in confusion.

"I-I just remembered I needed to check on something at home!" She quickly lied rushing to put her dishes away and thanking Nino's parents for breakfast, "I'm sorry Alya, Nino, I need to run home, I'll see you both at school."

She ran up to grab her bags, barely catching Nino's eyes narrow in suspicion and Alya's eyes roll, having gotten used to this behavior over the past couple of years. Marinette was never good at giving excuses as to why she had to leave for Ladybug reasons, but nobody ever questioned her too much on it so she kept going. She ran past everyone with her bags and out the front door, finding a nearby ally way that was clear of any people to transform in. When she did, she began swinging to her house as fast as she could, trying to beat Plagg so he wouldn't be alone.

She was there soon and landed on her balcony with a silent thud, quickly throwing open the door to her room and jumping down into her bed. She turned and faced the little bed that Plagg had been resting in before. He was still there having watched her wild landing before him with a bit of surprise.

"Ladybug?" He mumbled in question, sleep still very much covered his eyes.

She smiled, he must have only just gotten up, what timing. "Yes, yes it's me. Hello," She greeted warmly.

He looked her over with his green eyes before looking around at the room and the little bed he lay in. He said nothing as he did so, but pushed himself up with his little arms when it occurred to him where he was not.

"Where's the kid?!" He suddenly asked in worry, he tried to float up but only got so high before he fluttered down in exhaustion. Ladybug caught him in her hands.

"Shhh, Plagg, save you strength," She whispered to him moving to a sitting position for the moment, "Um… Adrien, he's, he's in the hospital."

"What?!" Plagg yelled out.

"Please calm down, my parent's might hear you. We were in an akuma attack, and we had just purified the akuma, but the host," She shook her head as she informed Plagg of what had happened, he listened intently to everything she was saying, "The host stabbed Chat in the side, a-and you came flying out as his transformation released, and all that was left was Adrien, and he was b-bleeding. Bleeding everywhere, I rushed him to the hospital and he shoved you and his miraculous ring into my hands before they wheeled him away. I took you to the healer afterwards, you've been asleep since."

"How long?" He asked stiffly.

"A little more than a day."

"..And is he okay?" Plagg questioned, this time letting the worry seep into his words.

"Yes, for the most part. He's stable and safe in the hospital, they're just waiting for him to wake up," Ladybug answered, feeling like she was lying again, he wasn't okay in there.

They were quiet for a moment, letting her words sink in. Finally Plagg bowed his head and let out a little sigh.

"Food," He huffed, "I need food."

"Oh!" Ladybug looked at him again, "I had some camembert downstairs, you like that don't you?"

His head perked up at hearing the mention of food and his eyes looked to her in a longing sparkle. She felt good knowing that he was feeling well enough to eat and that the mere suggestion of food brought his spirits up. She put him back in the little bed and told him to wait there while she got the cheese. She opened her trap door and peeked into it to see if her parents were around, they weren't, having probably had breakfast already and were now both working in the bakery. She thanked her lucky stars before heading down.

Grabbing the small wheel she saw there was a little more than half left, it would have to do. Plagg managed to fly across the bed onto the open canister when she got close enough, eager to eat the smelly but delectable cheese. Ladybug set it down and simply watched while he took huge bites. Something told her to release her transformation, so she did for the time being. Tikki went swirling out of her earrings and right to Plagg's side just as he finished, cheering over being able to see the other kwami. Plagg greeted her warmly before looking over to Marinette, in her now human form, he pinched his eyes. She felt nervous under his perspective gaze. Something internally worried over whether or not he approved of her.

Plagg floated up to Marinette, "Allow me to introduce myself Ladybug. My name is Plagg, I am the kwami for the Chat Noir Miraculous," He greeted, holding out his little arm. She took it gently between two of her fingers and gave him a light shake.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, at your service," She greeted back.

He gave a nod, "I know who you are. Well vaguely, I never paid much attention to Adrien's classmates, except you of course because you were Ladybug," He mumbled in thought, sitting back down on the cheese canister.

"You knew I was Ladybug?" How? She turned to Tikki and gave her an accusing glance, "Wait, did you know Chat was Adrien?"

Tikki looked at a crossroads at Marinette's question, "Of course, I've always known. We kwami's can sense each other's presence when our magic is used," Tikki sighed at Marinette's look that asked why she didn't tell her, "I didn't tell you because you were rather adamant about not revealing your identities, so I respected your wish."

"Myself as well," Plagg said with a roll of his eyes, "You would not believe how many times that kid asked me if I knew who "his lady" was."

Marinette mulled over their words, for two years their kwamis had just known the identities of their partners and out of the kindness of her request kept that information secret, despite the probing of their human partner. She sighed and let a small smile play on her lips.

"Thank you, thank you both," They didn't have to do that.

"Don't be so eager to thank me," Plagg had a sly smile slip across his face, "As payment for your insistence to keep your identities secret, I request more cheese, preferably camembert."

"Of course," Marinette laughed softly at Plagg's proposal but internally grimaced at the prospect of having to go and buy more cheese for the little kwami, "I'll make sure to buy more from the store when I come home from school."

"Don't bother," Plagg said with a shrug, "There's a whole miniature fridge full of cheese in Adrien's room, and I'd hate for such delicacies to get spoiled without me there to indulge in them."

Marinette glanced at Tikki in wonder at Plagg's dreamy look, Tikki simply giving an understanding smile. Something inside Marinette made her cringe at the thought of having to actually go into his room, risk the chance of any of the reporters seeing her and wondering what she was doing. Or worse, Adrien's father catching her and questioning what she was doing there, why she had done this to his son.

Tikki pulled her out of her thoughts and reminded her that she needed to get to school. She jumped up and closed her balcony door, figuring that going through the side of her building wouldn't be that bad with her parent's in the bakery, that way she wouldn't have to transform again. She looked to Plagg from the ladder to her bed, almost leaving without him.

"Um… do you want to come with us to school or stay here? I'll make sure to stop by Adrien's house to get more cheese for you afterwards," She watched him with Tikki floating next to her as he sat down on the bed.

Plagg let out a little yawn and stretch, "Probably not for now, I'll just stay here and sleep some more. I'm still not quite up to par."

Marinette nodded and told him to stay safe before sliding down her ladder and leaving Plagg alone in the room. Out her apartment door and locking it behind her, she headed to school at the firm pace, still having some time before class started.

"By the way Marinette," Tikki spoke up from her little purse while she walked, "I wanted to ask if you were okay after your nightmare. I wasn't able to earlier with Alya and Nino there but I was really worried about you."

Marinette had almost forgotten about that. She recalled how terrible she felt, how she was in complete hysterics; of course Tikki was concerned for her.

"Yes Tikki I'm fine, Alya and Nino helped me calm down from my panic," Marinette reassured her, though she probably already knew that.

"And for that I am eternally grateful," Tikki smiled, satisfied with the answer and hiding back into the purse.

When she approached the school entrance she was unfortunately reminded of the line of reporters still gathered around the front door. She frowned, neither Alya nor Nino was there to pull her in and keep her from looking at the reporters when they asked questions that made her stomach drop. They were just her imagination. Marinette shook her head and put her hands over her ears to block out their voices. She took a deep breath and sprinted around the reporters and into the school building until she was far enough from them that she wouldn't be able to hear them from a distance. She slowed to a stop near her classroom and took a breath amongst the many other students.

She had done it! She quietly congratulated herself before continuing to class.

There, Nino and Alya were already waiting in their seats, quietly chatting between themselves and stopping to turn when Marinette entered the room. Alya smiled and gave a little wave while Nino watched her closely as she went to her seat.

"I'm glad to see you, for a moment I was worried you wouldn't be in class today," Alya let out a light sigh at Marinette, but chuckled none the less.

"Tell me Marinette, what was it that you so suddenly had to check at home?" Nino asked, not hiding the sharpness of his voice. Alya quietly tsked him and gave him a pap on the shoulder but still looked curiously to Marinette for a possible answer.

Marinette felt her throat catch. What could she say? Nino was too suspicious, too bothered, too afraid of what Marinette's actions could imply for Adrien's safety. She had already revealed too much information about what she knew and her fears to him. Nino must have known that she had some kind of secret relationship with Adrien, and it was a matter of time before he might confront her in a place that she wouldn't be able to escape, the only way being to confess.

She did nothing but stare him in the eyes with fear, he stared back, straight faced and patient, just waiting for what she had to say. But she had nothing. Alya was starting to get worried about their staring contest until they were broken out of it by the class going silent.

Chloé had entered the room with Sabrina right next to her.

She didn't look exhausted or like a mess much like Marinette and Nino had yesterday. In fact Chloé looked fine, not a hair out of place on her pretty head, but her eyes betrayed all in a way not unlike Marinette's had that morning. Her eyes held a feeling of death deep within them. She glared hard at everyone in the room in complete silence, saying nothing to anyone and glaring especially hard at Marinette and Nino as she passed them to go to her seat. Marinette caught Nino glaring back Chloé just as hard, relieved by his distraction that kept him from continuing to probe her.

For some reason though, Marinette felt a great sadness in her heart as well. She had never seen Chloé like this before, completely silent and carrying such an extensive mix of anger and pain within her eyes. She didn't realize what happened would affect Chloé in such a way, that it would somehow actually hurt her. Marinette felt a confusing swell of emotions through her, luckily the teacher entered class at the moment to take her from her thoughts.

* * *

That lunch she blew off Alya and Nino to try and get the cheese for Plagg. It would be better for her to do it now rather than later, and she was able to use the excuse that her parents wanted to at least check up on her and have lunch with her. She didn't have lunch with them though; instead she had to find a way to sneak into the Agreste residence.

Atop the roof of another building, out of sight of the now only three reporters still camped out by the fence of the residence, Ladybug found herself trying to remember which window was one to Adrien's room and hopefully unlocked. She caught sight of a rock wall through a set of windows, bingo. With a deep breath, she swung across as quietly as she could and made herself as small as possible as she landed on the window sill of Adrien's room. By her luck, the reporters hadn't caught sight of her and she began pushing quick and hard on each window until one moved. The third window she tried finally gave way and she slipped in as soon as she had figured how to push it all the way in.

Her landing was quiet but she still felt tense at the slightest noise she made, she looked around the room vigorously and found that she was alone. Relief washed over her and she started looking for the mini fridge full of cheese Plagg described. Looking around the room and behind devices, she couldn't find the elusive fridge, was this some kind of joke? The longer it took and higher her nerves would climb, every sound made her jump, thinking it was Adrien's father coming to yell at her for what she was doing and what she had done.

Finally, finally, finally she found the damn fridge. It had apparently been built into the wall as a secret fridge. The door was actually some fake books in the wall of his library. She did not know why he felt it so necessary to hide the cheese in such an obscure place; she had only noticed it because some of the books looked a bit more plastic upon a second close examination. Did Adrien worry about the questioning he might receive if it was discovered that he was hoarding that much cheese? Stars it smelled terrible all grouped together like that, she took a deep breath through her mouth and closed the door. She took the plastic bag tied around her wrist and fanned it out so she could grab a few wheels and get going.

Once again checking that no one was there, she opened the fridge door and loaded the few wheels into her bag hoping it would be enough for now. Closing the door and looping the bag around her shoulder, carefully and without sound, she managed to leave his room and close the window behind her before swinging away. She was almost sure that she hadn't gotten caught when she barely heard the reporter yell.

"Ladybug?"

Fear jumped in her chest and she swung away faster, hoping the reporter wouldn't go chasing after her. A few blocks and she saw that they didn't, relief flooded her as she chastised herself. Of course it would have to be while she was leaving with a bag full of suspicious mysteries that she was to get caught by them.

Taking another deep breath to relax, she headed home to drop off the cheese. She popped into her room to find Plagg still curled up and sleeping. His head perked up as she entered the room, probably enticed to wake up by the scent of the cheese. Like a strong coffee he was up in an instant, asking if what was in the bag was for him. She nodded and snuck down to the kitchen to snag a cheese knife and replace the camembert wheel she gave to Plagg that morning.

Her parents weren't there, once again by her lucky stars, though they did take shorter lunches with their work in the bakery. She only had a limited amount of lunch time left before she would have to be at school again. She found a knife and cut one wheel in half, grabbing something simple to bring back one half while the other half stayed in its little container. The extra cheese was placed in the fridge, she hoped her parents wouldn't find it too suspicious that the cheese they had to the side had suddenly doubled. She grabbed something simple to eat, not feeling as hungry as she had that morning, and brought the half wheel to a very appreciative Plagg.

He eagerly ate what was offered while she released her transformation and ate what she had of her own lunch. She bid him farewell when he was done and headed back to school, back to the supposed place of normality in her life.

* * *

A/N: Not the best ending for this chapter, I know, but this chapter was a bit difficult to write. I scrapped a good 800 words from the original draft.

This story is so much more dissatisfying to write, whereas with my other stories 15,000 words is half of the story or more, 15,000 words is only the beginning with this story.

I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of suffering, or at least please drop a review with your thoughts about it.


	4. The Miscreant Bug

Chapter 4: The Miscreant Bug

Alya was not so subtle about her hint for Marinette and Nino to bathe before they spent another night together. Marinette couldn't blame her, it had been almost three days since she had a proper shower what with her distress, and a bath would do good to clear her mind.

Or at least try and clear her mind.

She couldn't help but think over dinner with her parents while she prepared her bubble bath.

They had been concerned for her over the past couple of days and not being able to see her while she was out made it worse. She assured them that she was okay, that Nino and Alya needed to be with her as much as she needed to be with them. Her parents voiced their happiness that Alya and Nino were staying with her, and the three of them supporting each other, "It's good to see friends looking out for each other when one is away or hurt."

Marinette felt a great amount of shame that she couldn't tell her parents the whole truth. That she couldn't tell them about her nightmares and the relationship of her and Nino's small friendship was waning greatly. She couldn't admit that she was the only one that needed Nino and Alya, and that they'd do much better without her stealing their attention and energy over her silly and childish panics. But Marinette couldn't bear to make her parents worry more than they already had been over the past few days.

Besides, Alya and Nino could understand just a tiny bit more than her parents could, because Adrien was their friend too.

But nobody could completely understand.

The tub was just about ready for her. The warm, lavender scented water felt wonderful when she submerged herself, and she let the kwamis join her so that they too may partake in the enjoyment of the bubbles. It was obvious though after sometime of silence that the kwamis wanted to talk with her. She looked up to the celling of her bathroom, letting out a sigh before asking what they wanted to talk about as they rested atop her knees.

"I understand from Tikki that you have been having nightmares, is that right?" Plagg asked.

"It was just one nightmare," Marinette said with a shrug, keeping herself from looking at Plagg and Tikki.

"But it could easily happen again tonight, and the nights following," Tikki tsked at her, "Marinette, I'm worried about you. You need to talk to someone about this, about what you saw."

"And who exactly am I supposed to go to for something like this? A psychiatrist? Oh yes let's just inform some stranger all of my secrets, let them know all about how I'm Ladybug, but I've got to keep it secret you know? Hush, hush, don't let anyone know or Papillon will get you. He'll kill anyone I get into contact with for this dear little secret! For this dear little power!" She snapped at them, throwing her arms into the air.

"Marinette!" Tikki hissed out in offence. Much like her mother scolding her, and Marinette did feel scolded, she bowed her head into the water and immediately apologized, spinning Chat's ring around her finger when she brought her arms down into the water.

"Why not talk to the healer? He knows who and what we are, he would be most able to understand what you're going through," Plagg said with a tone of obviousness, and slight scolding of his own.

Marinette felt foolish. She didn't think to talk to the old man, she hadn't thought about the old man at all, he was too much on an anomaly to her. But Plagg was right, she had transformed in front of him, he would be the most likely to understand her. She sighed and looked back up to the ceiling again, breaking her hands apart to run her fingers through her wet hair.

"You're right," She said with exasperation, "You're right, you're right, you're right. I'll try to go talk to the old man tomorrow, get some of my issues out in the open."

"I know it's hard for you," Tikki floated up from her resting place to Marinette's face, she dripped a bit of water onto Marinette's nose but she listened to what Tikki had to say with rapt attention, "You've gotten so used to not being able to tell anyone about being Ladybug, not even telling Chat anything for not having time to. But you don't have to do keep it all inside Marinette, you don't have to be alone. We're here's for you, please, please don't forget that. We may not have a full comprehension of all human emotions, but we do care for our human companion's very much."

Marinette managed a weak smile. Tikki knew a lot of the right words to say, and one of the main reasons she hadn't really talked to her was because she didn't have the chance to, what with Tikki's initial exhaustion and Marinette constantly being around other people all the time.

"Thank you Tikki," Marinette mumbled, bringing a soapy hand out of the water to brush over Tikki's head and antennae.

"Is there something you want to talk with us about?" Plagg asked with a relaxed and somewhat bored expression from atop her knee.

Marinette paused, she had so many things to talk about, which one could she possibly start with?

"I'm worried about my relationship with Nino and Alya," She finally said.

"The musician? What could possibly be wrong with him?" Plagg frowned at the thought.

"What with Adrien's recent… injury, Nino's been just as much a mess as me. He's been so depressed and angry, angry at me. He knows that Adrien and I weren't really that close of friends, especially not like they were, and it's been driving him nuts that he doesn't know why I've been as down about this as he has," She let out a heavy breath while grabbing her loofa, "He's become so suspicious of me, and I'm afraid that's he's going to discover who I am, and because he's angry at me, probably blames Ladybug for what happened too, he's going to spread my secret."

"He wouldn't do that," Plagg said with much conviction, she was actually surprised by it, didn't Plagg say he didn't pay much attention to the other people around Adrien? "The kid is a bit of an oddball, and he'll rush into things without thinking them over if he believes what's he's doing is right, but that just means he cares. And if he cares about Adrien as I've seen, then you have no worry about him if he does discover your identity."

Marinette frowned, Plagg was confident in what he said but, "I still don't want to risk him finding out," He nodded in understanding.

"And what is your worry for Alya?" Tikki asked.

"Alya's been my and Nino's rock ever since what had happened," Marinette began, slowly scrubbing herself while she talked, "And I'm worried that I've been taking too much from her. I've seen. It's rather tiring for her to look over the both of us, and I know she's worried about both of us. I feel so selfish, I don't want to do this to her, and yet, I don't want her to leave. I need her so, so badly. But I'm afraid that if I take too much or lean on her for too long, she'll become tired with me and leave."

"Alya cares about you, Marinette. Too much for her to ever leave you," Tikki whispered in response to her.

"Yes but what if-"

"No," Tikki interrupted Marinette's worry, "Alya is you friend, and she wouldn't leave you when you need her most. She knows you, and she knows that what happened has affected you greatly, she's not going to chastise you for that. She may be tired now, but both of you, no, all of you, all four of you, will get better, you'll get better together."

Marinette felt a mix of doubt and strange bursts of happiness at both Plagg and Tikki's words. She was terrified about what could happen to her relationships with Alya and Nino, but the kwami's reassurance of what she technically knew, but had forgotten in the time being, reignited her confidence.

"And besides it wouldn't hurt to give her something as a thank you for being there for you," Tikki not-so-subtly hinted at. Marinette let out a light laugh, she would have to do that.

* * *

The walk to Nino's home was brisk and cool, with the sun having dropped by the horizon and filled the sky with a wonderful orange color. Plagg elected to continue to stay at Marinette's home for the freedom to move about without the worry of being seen and to still sleep somewhere comfortable. Marinette gave him some cheese before she left with a fresh bag of clothes and Tikki in her purse, her parents giving her a kiss goodbye and a wish for her to stay safe.

Alya was already at Nino's when she arrived, his parents greeting Marinette warmly and asking how she was doing. She told them that she was doing better before going to Nino and Alya who were curled up together in his room. Alya looked up from her phone and smiled at Marinette, unable to get up from her position on the floor as Nino was lazily draped across her back. They both gave her a casual greeting while she put her bag in the corner and sat next to them, leaning on Nino's bed like the night before.

"Are you all nice and clean now?" Alya asked with a light smile, Marinette noticed that her hair was tied up, something she typically did after showers.

"Yeah, I am. I'm glad we took time to do that, I feel much better after my bath," Marinette responded, it was nice not only for the warm water, but for the comforting conversation that went with it.

"That's good to hear," Alya said turning back to her phone, "So, we were just talking about Ladybug before you showed up."

Marinette felt her throat catch at the mention of Ladybug but she kept her face neutral as Nino nonchalantly glanced at her from where he lay. His eyes held a curiosity to them and Marinette almost thought he could read her thoughts.

"Is that so?" She asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"Yeah, some video footage was caught by a reporter of her leaving Adrien's house with a white plastic bag apparently," Alya said scrolling through the news feed.

Marinette caught site of a picture of her jumping across the rooftops as Ladybug. Her little ponytail hair style had remained during her transformation, some form of relief went through her as she hoped that her loose hair would keep her from looking more like Ladybug as Nino continued to stare at her.

"Do they know what she was doing there?" Marinette asked in false curiosity, she knew they didn't know what she was doing. The explanation of stealing cheese was too absurd for any of the reporters to come up with.

"Probably getting something for Adrien," Alya said, her voice low and she let out a little tsk, "Ladybug must be so concerned for him."

Marinette felt her heartrate climb.

"But it's her fault," She blurted out before she could stop herself.

Alya and Nino looked at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Alya asked, obviously bothered by the comment.

Marinette felt herself become shy. She didn't want to explain herself for risking that they might find out, but some sick part of her wanted Nino and Alya to agree with her, it wanted them to blame her like she blamed herself. The words came tumbling out before she could think over it more.

"It's Ladybug's fault that Adrien got hurt, that his identity is revealed and that he's in the hospital. She's his partner, she's supposed to watch out for him, and she didn't do that. She just sat there and watched him get- get hurt, you both saw it, she didn't make her move until after t-the knife when in," Marinette felt her volume raising and voice warbling with each word.

"She was in shock Marinette, she didn't realize what was happening at the moment, none of us did," Alya defended, getting more exasperated at Marinette's anger.

"Superheroes aren't supposed to be in shock. They have to pay attention to everything that's going on around them," Marinette exclaimed. Why weren't they agreeing with her?

"Ladybug and Chat Noir are human too, we know that all too well now, they experience thoughts and feeling just like all of us, of course they can be in shock," Alya argued.

"Bu-"

"Blaming Ladybug isn't going to help Adrien! It isn't going to help anything," Nino snapped, propping himself up on his arms to look Marinette in the eyes.

She was at a loss for words. Why were they defending, well, her? Her mouth gaped as she looked to the ground. It was obvious that it was her fault, didn't they see that? Didn't anyone see that?

"Marinette," Alya said softly, Marinette closed her mouth and looked up to Alya, Nino having slumped back down to where he was draped across her back, he stared at the ground, a frown firmly planted on his face, "Do you really blame Ladybug for what happened to Adrien?"

Marinette knit her eye brows together, _yes,_ but that was the wrong answer, "I… I don't know."

"You shouldn't blame her, Marinette. She's always been there for Adrien, and you heard how she screamed… how terrifyingly she screamed when she saw him get hurt. She didn't want it to happen just as much as the rest of us didn't," Alya was distressed by her conviction, Marinette couldn't understand it.

 _But it did happen, and I just let it happen,_ Marinette thought, but she was too tired to argue with Alya, she couldn't see what Marinette saw was wrong, "I guess you're right," She muttered in defeat, drawing her knees up to herself and resting her hands in her lap.

* * *

She didn't know where she was. It was too dark to make out anything, and she felt like her skin and entire being was wrapped in a thin film that made everything feel fuzzy. She could hear something, she wasn't sure what it was, quiet and wavering, but it was coming closer to her. She strained herself to identify what the sound was, closer and closer until…

Birds' wings, it sounded like birds wings. Flapping, flapping and coming closer to her.

She wasn't sure why, but this scared her. It didn't make sense though, she wasn't afraid of birds, she had taken on a whole battalion of pigeons once. A dim flash of purple went flying by her vision as the sound of the birds' wings went by. She tried to follow where they lead, finding nothing but a small white light in the distance. Chasing after the light she watched as it grew bigger but dimmer, until she could barely see the scene before her.

Someone was on the ground, she didn't know who as she couldn't see their face, while another person stood over them with their back facing her. Marinette was too nervous to try and say anything to them, the way the other stood, tall and full of purpose, made her uncomfortable despite the haze of the film she was wrapped in.

The fluttering came back, stronger and louder, she turned to where it was coming from and saw a group of something flying towards her. They were dark and crowded together, so it was hard to make them out.

…Moths, or butterflies.

A whole hoard of them was heading for her. Fear climbed in her chest, butterflies were bad, they were bad because Papillon sent them out to do his bidding, Papillon sent them out to hurt people. She turned back to the two figures, still standing and on the ground, they needed to get away, all of them. Before she could say anything though, the standing figure began turning to her. Her curiosity kept her where she stood despite her fear as the fluttering came closer and closer.

The standing figure was almost completely facing her, almost bringing their face to the dim light, but right as she could begin to see them, the butterflies caught up to her. They rushed past her in a black and purple cloud of fury, past where she stood and grouped together in front of the person's face. Right in front of her she saw Papillon's face, huge and frightening as the swarm of butterflies.

She needed to get out of there! She needed to-

Her eyes flashed open in a panic, she gasped harshly as her body jerked from where it lay. The image was gone. It was just dream, it wasn't real. But her shaking hands and clenched muscles of her body thought it was real.

"Fuck," She hissed under her breath as she blinked and blinked to make sure she couldn't see anything.

She couldn't see in the dark of Nino's room, but she could feel the cold sweat covering her barely trembling body. Tikki was right, she did have another nightmare, and while she didn't wake up in hysterics, she still had a very real fear rushing through her body and her shallow breaths.

"Marinette?" It was Tikki.

"Yes?" She asked, keeping her voice low and hoping that Alya and Nino weren't awake. They didn't shift in the bed and their breathing was even, so she guessed she was safe for now.

"Are you okay?" Tikki asked, she was closer, probably floating to Marinette's voice.

"Am I ever?" She wondered with a sick apprehension. She felt something bump into her chest, Tikki.

"You had a nightmare didn't you?" Marinette brought her hands out from beneath the covers to pick up Tikki and bring her to a spot where she wouldn't be seen should the lights suddenly flash on.

"I-I did," Marinette mumbled with shame.

"Tell me about it," Tikki requested, her voice soft and patient.

"I… I saw Papillon's face," Marinette began, the image once again flashing across her eyes, but this time she felt only half the amount of fear as before, "I saw him standing over someone, I-I think it was Chat. He was on the ground, and Papillon was standing over him, I couldn't see either of their faces, but then Papillon began turning, and right as I would have seen his face, his real face, the butterflies came by and formed a bigger and much more ghastly version of his face. Just like when I had seen him the first time. And… I was so stricken with fear that I woke up."

Tikki cooed in concern.

"But, it's okay… I know it's not real. I'm here and Papillon isn't, Adrien is-" Marinette took a deep breath, she was going to say Adrien was at the hospital and Papillon wasn't, but she didn't know that, she had no clue where Papillon was in proximity to Adrien.

"Hey," Tikki whispered, breaking her out of her stupor, "I know you think Adrien is in danger, but trust me, he isn't."

Marinette wanted to ask her how she knew that, how could she possibly know that? But she elected not to argue and took deep breaths from where she lay to steady her racing heartbeat.

"I know it can be hard with the nightmares, but please, try to get some more sleep, you really need it. They're just nightmares they're not real," Tikki reassured her and papped Marinette's head awkwardly when she found it.

"Okay, okay, Yeah I'll do that," Marinette sighed from where she lay and closed her eyes to rest her mind once again.

* * *

That morning at breakfast, everyone was talking quietly amongst each other.

"I glad that you didn't wake up from a nightmare like last night Marinette," Alya hummed with a smile.

"Oh, um…" Marinette frowned and looked away from her, "Well, I. I did have another nightmare actually.

"What? Marinette are you okay," Alya asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. It wasn't that bad, you guys didn't wake up, but I was rather scared by it none the less," Marinette said with a small, shameful laugh.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm, I'm just glad it wasn't as bad as yesterdays," Marinette said with a sigh.

"You know, I think you're affecting me Marinette," Nino said between bites with a thoughtful look, "I had an odd dream last night, not necessarily a nightmare, but certainly off-putting."

Both Alya and Marinette turned to him with their curiosity peaked.

"I had a dream that Ladybug was talking to someone," Nino began, "Someone I didn't really recognize, well I couldn't really see either of them, but she was talking with someone about Adrien I think, I don't remember much of what she said. She was talking about Papillon, and how she was worried for Adrien, but her friend was rather insistent that Adrien was okay."

Marinette's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. That sounded like her conversation with Tikki last night. Did Nino hear them? Did he know? She looked over him, trying to find if he was sending her signals that he had figured out her secret, but he showed nothing, he really believed that the conversation he unknowingly overheard was a dream.

It did little to quell her nerves. Nino was too close to knowing everything.

* * *

The day had been long, but it was relatively quiet. The students worked on an assignment given by the teacher, Marinette found herself actually able to focus at least somewhat for the day. There was about an hour of school left, but no one spoke as they focused on their work. Marinette was working idly when Alya's phone lit up.

Alya peeked up at the device and offhandedly checked the news update. Most of the updates had been rather unimportant: information that Adrien was still in the hospital, speculation about where Ladybug is and what she and he will be doing as superheroes now, what was to come next for them. Marinette and Nino saw the news updates as a nuisance and tried to ignore Alya's phone every time it lit up. Alya checked them with half attention for the most part, but insisted to Marinette and Nino that it was important that they stay updated, especially for when Adrien would eventually wake up.

Marinette was starting to doubt that he would ever wake up.

Alya quickly skimmed over the article with only half an eye until she gasped. Everyone perked up and looked her direction, curious as to what would make her react in such a way.

"He's awake!" She cheered and the entire class held their breaths, the teacher didn't bother stopping her for interrupting the class, instead leaning forward with the students in anticipation to hear more from Alya. She excitedly continued, "Around noon Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir has woken up and remains conscious. Nurses report his vitals remain stable and he is tired but responding well."

The class chattered excitedly about the newest update. Marinette felt a huge wave of relief wash over her, he was awake. He was guaranteed alive. Her relief stopped at a thought, he's still a target for Papillon. Chloé brought her out of her thoughts when she stood up.

"I need to see him! I need to go see Adrien," Chloé cried out. She was about to go running off but their teacher stopped her before she could get out the door.

"Please, we're still in class. I know you're worried about him but you can go to see Adrien after school," They insisted, rather exasperated by Chloé's actions.

She frowned and turned harshly to Alya, "What time are the visiting hours?"

Alya peeked at her phone, scrolling a bit through the article, "Like most hospitals, general visiting hours are from 10 am to 9 pm," Chloé looked genuinely distressed at being given a viable reason as to not see Adrien at this very moment.

Her eyes were wide with conflict, something told Marinette that Chloé would actually have some consequences if she left now, "Fine," She huffed and stomped back to her seat.

"Allowed visits from non-family members remain to be seen," Alya mumbled to Marinette and Nino from the article. The teacher attempted to get their students to calm down over their excitement and focus back on their work.

Marinette knew that would be impossible now.

Now that he was awake, would she have to see him? He would probably want to know how Plagg was, and to know if Ladybug was okay, he never thought for himself. The thing was, she didn't want to see him, not now. On the other hand though, she did want to see him; she really, really, wanted to see him. She wanted to hug him and kiss him and protect him from anyone that so much gave a suspicious glance in his direction.

But Alya's words from the article stuck with her, "Allowed visits from non-family members remains to be seen". The chances of Chloé getting into the hospital to visit Adrien were fair. She was his friend, no matter how much Marinette wanted to deny it, and had leverage that she knew how to use with her father being the mayor. But Ladybug? If Adrien's father had anything to say about it she guessed Ladybug wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the building. She didn't actually know though, all she knew was that she wanted to avoid confrontation with all of them.

She glanced at Nino, his hands were trembling as he had the same internal conflict as Chloé, Could he go and visit Adrien? Like Chloé, he had no way to really prove that he was Adrien's friend, just his word, but unlike Chloé he had no real leverage for the police or anyone in the hospital to let him in. Marinette sighed, the friends of the famous were always left behind.

* * *

The next morning Marinette walked to school arm in arm with Alya and Nino. She thought over their conversations last night.

They talked about Adrien of course. They all wondered how he felt at the moment, tired and loopy on pain medication with no one but his father and nurses to keep him company. Nino affirmed that Adrien's father was not very good at keeping company, he couldn't help but hope that Adrien's father would bring him his phone so that they could at least contact him. Marinette and Alya agreed.

They speculated over whether or not Chloé got to see him. Marinette silently hoped to the stars that she did, and that she would share how he was doing. That way she wouldn't have to go and see him right now, she could give herself some time to wait. Alya half suspected that if Chloé had gotten to see him, she would somehow take it upon herself not to share her knowledge on his wellbeing with the rest of the students. It was a very real suspicion, but Marinette thought it was too terrible, especially after what she saw in Chloé's eyes. Something in her had been deeply disturbed, something that might have changed Chloé and her fundamentals.

That night Marinette had another nightmare, again she saw Papillon, and his strange crowded butterfly face. He stood on a pillar, and of all things she saw Adrien, Alya, _and_ Nino's bodies draped around the base of the pillar, black ooze pooling around them on the ground. She again awoke with a start in the middle of the night, but it was not nearly as bad as the first night. Her body had still shook awake in a cold sweat at the realization that the black ooze was in fact their blood. There was little reason for her to worry about Alya and Nino getting hurt, they were right there, she could touch them. She could hold them, in fact her arms were looped with theirs at the moment. But after that dream, she feared she might lose them too.

For some strange reason while she was still awake from her nightmare, Marinette found herself asking softly for Nino as she curled closer into Alya, to see if he had once again woken up by her start.

She immediately regretted it when he mumbled Ladybug's name in question.

She kept quiet and willed herself back to sleep. At breakfast Nino said nothing about a dream, and Marinette hoped to the stars that he had forgotten about it in his sleepy haze.

Together the three of them approached the school and the couple of reporters still lingering by the door. They rushed past the reporters in a drunken stumble of trying to match each other's paces and managed to get to class in one piece. One by one, their classmates filed in and they watched idly as the morning pulled along, it wasn't until Chloé came storming in a rage into the classroom with Sabrina walking behind her in a wide birth that everyone perked up. She sat in her seat with a "humph" and said nothing.

"Well?" the students asked, all eagerly looking at Chloé and waiting for what she had to say.

"They wouldn't fucking let me into the hospital!" She said with a growl and a blush of shame as she turned her head to the side, away from everyone's eyes.

"What?"

"They said there was no way of proving that I was Adrien's friend, and even though I'm the mayor's bloody daughter I wasn't allowed to see him. His fucking father said _no one's_ allowed to see him and frankly I think that's a load of horse shit! " She was practically screaming now.

Everyone looked between themselves, a murmur of agreement fluttered between them before they all began thinking over what to do so that they could see Adrien or at least get someone on the inside who can confirm that he's okay aside from what the reporters were told from the nurses.

"But of course, little Miss Ladybug can go gallivanting in there whenever the fuck she wants!" Marinette felt her blood drop at Chloé's words, "She's the only exception the hospital will give for seeing Adrien even though this whole thing is her fault!"

 _Good._

Someone agreed with her. Someone knew that it was Marinette's fault the whole time-she tugged on her loose hair- at least, they knew it was Ladybug's fault.

There was murmur of disagreement over whether what happened was actually Ladybug's fault. The general consensus was "No" for some reason, but no one spoke up for fear of having to face Chloé's seething wrath. Marinette caught Nino glaring at Chloé, his hands clasped together and barely moving while his foot tapped just loud enough for her to hear. He must have wanted to say the same thing he said to her when she blamed herself. Blaming Ladybug wasn't going to help anything, and while he was right, it was just so easy for Marinette to blame herself. Yet by some strange force, the only one to agree with her was her own societal enemy. Maybe that was more confirmation that she shouldn't blame herself.

Their teacher came in just before the bell and everyone quieted down. Marinette knew there was one thing left to do though, and she was the only one who could do it.

She had to go see Adrien herself.

* * *

A/N: Hooray! We get to see Adrien next chapter. The first half of scenes in this chapter weren't planned in the original outline, but as I was writing I liked them enough and thought that they added good points to the overall state of Marinette so far. Also I just finished rewatching all the episodes and I completely forgot how Volpina ended, so we're going to pretend that for the sake of this fic that Volpina was just an ordinary akuma and the book thing didn't happen.

Imma be in Yellowstone for spring break by the time my next update is due so next chapter my be a bit late and post the Sunday following.


	5. Breathing

Chapter 5: Breathing

Marinette, Nino, and Alya spent lunch at Marinette's house. Her parent's joined them for some time while they discussed the possibility of Ladybug going to see Adrien, and whether or not she would tell anyone for the matter about how he is. _Of course she would_ , Marinette thought as she contemplated how she would be able to take some time on her own and visit the hospital without arising any suspicion in Alya or more specifically Nino. The only thing she could think of was to make an excuse for taking another bath… It would have to work for now.

Before they headed back to school, she managed to grab a small portion of cheese for Plagg and went to her room to notify him that they were going to see Adrien that evening after school. He jumped up at that.

"He's awake?" That's right she hadn't had time to tell him yet.

"Yes, he's been awake since yesterday afternoon," She said softly, the words still seemed unreal coming from her mouth.

"We have to go see him!" Plagg nearly went rushing out of her room to a location he did not know but Marinette caught him before he could get too far.

"Hang on!" She cried bringing him back to the bed, "We are going to go see him, just not right now. I still have school to go to, and my friends will be worried if I stay up here for too long. Eat your cheese and rest up, I'll come get you after school and we'll go see Adrien together."

Plagg looked bothered as she climbed down the ladder to her bed, but eventually relented to her offer and sat back on the little bed.

"I'll see you soon Plagg," She said as she approached her trapdoor and Plagg groaned in agreement.

* * *

Marinette's excuse for another bath worked. In an alleyway between the walk to her home and school, she transformed and swung to her room to pick up Plagg. They had a bit of spinning around as Marinette tried to find a blank bag with which she could carry Plagg in without being recognized and without him bouncing around from within it. After sometime she finally found a small plain cloth bag, filled with marbles of all things and buried at the bottom of one of her fabric boxes, which she could easily tie around her waist. After safely dumping the marbles in a little cloth basket full of fabric scraps, Plagg hopped in and they set off for the hospital.

It didn't take too long for her to get there as Ladybug, but she was reminded of another problem as she watched the hospital entrance from a hidden rooftop across the street.

The reporters.

Still crowded around the hospital door with a wall of police keeping them outside much like the first day, they must have been excited by the information of Adrien's awakening and were fighting about who would get what little information the nurses could give first. She caught sight of many civilians amongst them as well.

With a sigh, Ladybug tried to recall where the employee's entrance was and make her way over there without being seen. With luck she managed to find the door and gave a heavy knock on it, hoping that someone would hear her despite its out-of-the-way placement.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Plagg hissed unable to see what was going on.

"I can't exactly go waltzing in through the front door with all the reporters gathered around it. Not without gathering attention at least," She pursed her lips with a frown and felt the impatient need to knock again, this time harder.

"Attention wouldn't be bad, no one's going to stop you," Plagg chittered.

"They might for questions, and I don't want to give them any statements," Ladybug mumbled.

"What about your-"

The door opened and Marinette felt herself straighten up at a front desk assistant glaring down at her. Their frown instantly melted when they recognized her.

"Ladybug!" They gasped with a smile. They stood to the side and allowed for her to enter, "We were hoping you would show up soon, Adrien-or… Chat as you probably call him, has been so worried about you."

Ladybug let out a light chuckle as she followed the clerk inside, how typical of him to worry about her when he's the one in the hospital.

"And what timing too, Adrien's father just stepped out a few minutes ago to grab some things at home," Ladybug relaxed at this, she could talk to Adrien on her own, she wouldn't have to face his father, "He's been rather adamant that you not be allowed to see Adrien. But the staff is all under agreement that you should, especially considering how badly he wants to see you."

Ladybug felt her heart flutter at hearing that and said a small "Thank you". The clerk notified a passing nurse that Ladybug was here to see Adrien and the nurse happily agreed to take her to him. They made their way through a labyrinth of hallways, the stagnant whiteness of the hospital felt almost suffocating with the anticipation of seeing Adrien. They arrived in front of a small door and she caught Adrien's name written and clipped to the side of the door, the curtains for the window into the room only half closed and when she glance in she could catch the bottom half of his bed.

Ladybug took a deep breath to relax her climbing nerves while the nurse peeked their head into the door to check that Adrien was awake at the moment and informing him that she was here. For a brief moment Ladybug wondered if he would actually want to see her despite what the clerk said, maybe he was just playing a part but really blamed her too?

She barely caught sound of him eagerly asking to let her in. Adrien's voice was tired and raspy and Ladybug immediately felt guilty hearing it. She slowly shuffled into the room as the nurse held the door open and closed it behind her to give them some privacy, no one else was in the room.

Machines surrounded him along with the white everything of the room. The only color was the light blue blanket that covered the white gown he wore and his injuries with it. She didn't dare step forward as she looked over him though. An IV was stuck into his hand, the bag it was connected to only half full of clear liquid and loomed over him ominously. She brought herself to look him in the eyes, they were tired and half closed, but he managed to smile lazily in her direction.

"Ladybug," He said with a relived whisper, his voice still raspy.

"Kid!" Plagg surprised Ladybug by bursting out of the little cloth bag tied to her hip and went rushing to Adrien.

"Hey Plagg," Adrien let out a light laugh as Plagg bumped into his face.

Her heart warmed at the sight of the two reuniting and she felt brave enough to walk forward, dragging a chair so she could sit next to him.

"He's been rather worried about you. Nearly went flying to the hospital when he first heard that you were awake," She said with a light chuckle.

"Aww, Plagg, you actually care about me?" Adrien said in a teasing tone, pulling the kwami away from his face to look at him.

"Of course, who's going to buy me all the decadent cheese I want if it's not someone like you?" Plagg asked matter-of-factly, easily hiding his real worry for his human companion.

Adrien pinched his eyebrows for a moment before rolling his eyes and turning to her, "I hope he hasn't been too much of a hassle for you," He gave a sympathetic sigh.

"Of course not, he's mostly been resting for now," Adrien tilted his head in question, he must not have known that Plagg was hurt, "The …event, took quite a toll on him as well, I took him to a healer. He was unconscious for a day afterwards, but he's been getting better."

Adrien smiled at this and ran his fingers over his kwami's head, Plagg rubbed closer to them much like an actual cat would. It felt nice being able to give good news for once.

"That's good to hear," Adrien mumbled.

There was a moment between them where each wondered what to say, she couldn't ask something like "How are you?" that was stupid, she could see him right there. Though, if he was hurting, he might try to hide it. Adrien spoke up first.

"And the Miraculous? Or the jewelry piece? I don't really know which it is."

She shook her head "I've been wearing it for the most part…" She answered, waving the hand it was on in front of him, her costume covered the actual ring, "Do you want it back?"

"No, no," He said with a shake of his head, "I'm, not now. I'm in no condition to protect the Miraculous and Plagg. Not with everyone knowing my identity and where I am, I'd be a sitting duck for Papillon."

Ladybug fidgeted in her seat at his words. He was all too aware of the danger he was in right now too.

"I've been… worried about you, very worried," She whispered.

He moved his hand over hers, luckily not the one with and IV inserted in it, and laced their fingers together. He gave her a light squeeze.

"I'm alright, My Lady," He smiled, "I've been here the whole time, and I'm not going anywhere, not with this catheter at least."

"What?" Why did he say that?

"Don't worry, I can't feel it. Actually I can't feel much of my body, they gave me an epidural, like some kind of pregnant lady. But I can't feel my anything, I've been laying down all day, and sleeping mostly, lots of sleeping. Last night they brought me a heated blanket, it was so nice," He said with a tired and dreamy look in his eyes. He probably wanted to sleep now, but he stayed attentive.

"All that medicine has been going to your head," She chuckled in realization, "You're rambling."

"So? I like talking with you. You're better at talking than my dad is, though that's not much competition to begin with," Adrien looked off in thought.

"And you've been all alone with him?" Plagg asked.

"The occasional nurse too, but yeah mostly just him," Plagg tutted, Adrien turned to Ladybug "Can I make a little request of you?"

"Oh, uh sure," She nodded and leaned forward in curiosity.

"My father is at our house right now, getting somethings for the time I'll be in the hospital, but knowing what a putz he is," Ladybug's eyes bugged out of her head at hearing that while Plagg laughed out loud, she knew Adrien and his father had a very different dynamic than say, she and her parents, but it was so strange hearing him blatantly insult his father. That medicine _was_ going to his head, "He's probably not going to grab my phone, I left it home during our fight, and… I'm worried about my friends. I want to talk to them, at least be able to tell them I'm okay myself. I know it'll probably require breaking and entering on your part, no one's going to let you in, but the windows for my room are always unlocked."

"Not like I haven't already broken into your home," She laughed lightly, he gave her a confused look, she felt shy, "Well… I had to sneak into your house the other day, to get cheese for Plagg," Said kwami gave an appreciative noise at that, "I got caught by the reporter watching your house, but I'm almost guaranteed they didn't know what I was doing there."

Adrien let out a laugh at that, it was soft, and a bit wheezy, like his body couldn't quite bring itself to laugh fully without causing harm to him.

"That'd be a story for the press, 'Were you getting something for Adrien from his house?' 'Of course I was getting him cheese. You know, that Agreste boy, he's horribly addicted to it, always smells like camembert, can eat an entire wheel in one go,'" He mocked an interview between a reporter and Ladybug, giving a pointed look to Plagg at the last statement, who simply rolled his eyes.

"I always wondered why you smelt like cheese, though I think is more worrisome is the entire mini-fridge you have hidden in your room, filled with cheese. Are you afraid someone's going to find your hoard?" She teased.

"That fridge is hidden so that _he_ ," Adrien pointed an accusatory finger at Plagg who was resting on his chest, half-heartedly listening to their conversation, "Doesn't find it and eat all the cheese on one go. Because he _will_ do that."

She let out her own laugh. It felt nice, nice to see him, nice to talk to him, nice to be able to share these things outside of costume. Something suddenly felt very unfair. She got to know who he was outside of costume, she knew such a huge secret of his, and she suddenly wanted to share her own. If only to level the score, to let him know who he was trusting his miraculous to, and who he was trusting his life to. She had thought lightly of it before, but now that she was here, that she was with him, an actual want to go through with revealing herself surfaced deep within her thoughts. She gave his hand a squeeze.

Before she left, she would do it then. That way he would have time to think it over without her foreboding presence influencing his conclusion. She didn't think he would hate her, per say, but the fact that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was much less incredible or exciting than Ladybug was something to at least deter him. She didn't necessarily want to lose that glamour of mystery and power that Ladybug held with everyone. On the other hand, getting to talk with Adrien and Chat on this personal of a level was nice, and it felt only fair that he knows now.

"What was the point I was getting at earlier?" Adrien asked, breaking her out of her stupor, "Right, right, phones. Can you bring me my phone? It's sitting in my room, next to my bed, on its charger. My father probably won't bring it, and I really want to talk with my friends."

"Of course, I'm sure Nino will be thrilled to actually hear from you, he's been a bit of a mess," She sighed at the afterthought.

Adrien looked at her hard, and she felt herself jump at his suddenly perceptive gaze.

"You saw Nino?" He asked with worry.

"Yes, well actually. I know him…" She mumbled. It was better now than later, besides she didn't want to push her meeting with Adrien for too long lest she run into his father.

"So…" He contemplated the information in a way that was agonizingly slow to her, but she waited patiently to talk again, "You, uh, do you know me?"

She smiled and squeezed his hand, slipping it out of his as she slowly stood up.

"I do. I've known you for some time now."

He looked at a cross, unsure if he could take the step and cross the boundary that was her identity just yet. Plagg got up with her, realizing that she was leaving, and gave Adrien one last affectionate bump before flying back into the little cloth bag.

She took a deep breath and walked to the door, her nerves jittery at actually telling him who she was. She almost left before turning slightly towards him.

"You may ask me one question about who I am under the mask, just about any one will do," She whispered, just enough for him to hear.

He looked panicked for a moment, his eyes searching for what possible one question he could ask her.

"W-what, um," He stumbled over his words and took a deep breath to collect his thoughts, "What is your name? Just your first one."

She smiled, that was easy enough to answer.

"It's Marinette," She answered, just loud enough for him to hear.

His eyes widened in realization and she slowly opened the door to leave him to think, barely keeping watch of him out of the corner of her eye. Slowly a smile crawled across his face.

"I'm glad," he said, just as she stepped out the door.

She nodded in acknowledgement of his comment and gently closed the door behind her, watching the knob as it latched. She did it, she told him who she was. And he said he was glad of all things. Was that right? What a strange initial reaction to have, to be glad. Marinette wasn't that extraordinary. Maybe it was the medicine, he couldn't possibly be glad to learn that the incredible Ladybug superhero was his awkward classmate.

She sighed and turned to leave but nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw none other than Gabriel Agreste standing and waiting by the door. His back was rigid as he watched the window into Adrien's room. He turned to her silently and with purpose, he had been waiting for her to leave the room.

Ladybug looked him over, clasping her hands behind her back to hide their shaking, the man looked… exhausted. She had never seen him like this before, eyes dark and baggy, hair flat on his head and unstyled, his clothes were wrinkled, their dark colors contrasting greatly with the bright red duffle bag he held over his shoulder. His face remained stiff and unresponsive, she couldn't tell if he was shocked or not to see her hear, but she couldn't deny his discontent at her presence before him.

There was a long moment of silence between them in which Ladybug hoped beyond belief that she could somehow escape or just walk away from him and leave him to be. That was not the case, however, when he spoke up.

"Mademoiselle Ladybug," He said, his voice cool and low but dripping with displeasure.

"Monsieur Agreste," She replied in but a whisper, desperately trying to keep from looking him in the eyes.

"May I speak to you in private?"

 _No, no you may not,_ she thought but complied despite the screaming in her head.

They walked over to an odd, almost alley-like section of the hospital hallways, no one was around and Ladybug hated it.

"You came to see my son despite my explicit wish for you not to," He stated with as much coldness as he could muster in his exhausted state, she felt herself shiver in response.

"I… I did. I wanted to see him, and, and be sure that he was okay," She made sure only to bring up herself and not to mention the hospital staff to avoid putting as much blame on them as possible.

"Do you not read the news like any other person?"

"I-I do. But I needed to… he needed to-" She felt her voice catch, she wasn't sure what to say, she couldn't tell him about Plagg, and he probably wouldn't accept any excuse she gave, because the only excuse was that she _wanted_ to.

"I would prefer it if you refrain from seeing my son. Much less from convincing him in joining you in your heroic escapades. You are both simply children, and the realization of such has been… startling, to me," His volume had been rising steadily with each word until it suddenly went very soft, he looked to the side his eyes blurred, "Why would you accept such a daunting task when you are but mere children?"

Her heart stopped at the waver in his voice, he almost sounded regretful, but it began racing again when he turned to her, expectantly waiting for an answer.

She wasn't sure what to say. She didn't even want to be a superhero at first, but now it was like second nature to her, and she couldn't possibly imagine giving it up. As for Adrien, she had no idea, he acted so different as Chat Noir that she couldn't tell if he was hiding his fear of doing such inconceivable acts.

"I, we," She had to make something up, "Being chosen gave us an opportunity to be something greater than we actually are, who wouldn't pass that opportunity up?"

Gabriel frowned deeply at that answer, he easily saw through her bullshit but she had nothing else to offer.

"Do you have my son's miraculous?" He asked simply.

She stopped and managed to look him in the eye. Why would that be something Gabriel asked about? No, that was a stupid question, Gabriel could easily blame Chat's persona as a reason his son got hurt and not that he was going out into danger himself.

"I do," She managed to mumble, hoping it would somehow quell his anger and coldness somehow.

Gabriel pinched his eyebrows, he looked like he wanted to say something else, but he simply pursed his lips and turned away from her. Could she leave?

"See to it that you not come near my son again," He hissed, barely loud enough for her to hear, as if daring her to defy his words.

She nodded dumbly, of course she could not really take his words to heart as she needed to fulfill Adrien's request, and see that he continued to get better. No threats from his father was going to prevent her need to see him.

Gabriel turned to head back to the room, his back facing her completely and his footsteps silent. As soon as he was far enough away she bolted to the side exit, barely dancing around the nurses making their way through the halls. She ran until she burst out the side doors and swung home to grab her things and go see Nino and Alya. Her hands shook the entire time and she wanted to scream, scream at that mysterious, terrible man Gabriel Agreste.

* * *

A/N: A shorter chapter, and the next one will be shorter too. But hooray we see our boy Adrien! The only time I've stayed in a hospital was the three days I was there for my amputation so I tried to base as much of Adrien's being in the hospital on that, but obviously those are two very different situations. Also I was on a lot of drugs so I can only remember so much.


	6. The Sun Unfolds

Chapter 6: The Sun Unfolds

Things were quiet in Nino's room as the three of them sat together and worked on their homework. Plagg and Tikki were in Marinette's bag and she hoped to the stars that Nino wouldn't smell the container of Camembert that she brought along for him. The weight of having gone behind her friend's backs and visiting Adrien weighed heavy on her. She wanted to tell them about her visit right now, to tell him that he was okay and that they would be able to message him themselves after she got him his phone. His father obviously didn't bring it, just like Adrien said he would, Nino would have gotten a message from him by now.

Around midnight she would get the device. No reporters would see her in the shadows of the night and Alya and Nino would be asleep so as to not arouse suspicion. The prospect still frightened her though, sneaking into his room once again, there was the possibly of running into _someone_. She didn't know who but they could be there, lurking in the dark, waiting for her.

She pictured Papillon, waiting for her, with his frightening butterfly face condensed on the body of an ordinary man.

Was he that ordinary though? He had the ability of turning people into nightmares and did so as he pleased on a near daily basis. All this for the chance at nabbing the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous. Was there something in their abilities that she did not know?

Marinette thought over it and realized that she didn't know. There was the Lucky Charm, there was the Cataclysm, the peculiar, almost high-tech, abilities of her yo-yo and Chat's baton as communication devices and trackers. Then there was her ability to purify an akuma, an ability that was hers alone, and the mysterious disappearing light, but other than that Marinette couldn't think over what abilities or reasons Papillon would want the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculous for.

She suddenly felt very ignorant. She had been carrying around a miraculous for two years, fighting Papillon for two years, and she knew nothing about her abilities beyond what she learned the first day, nothing about his motivations aside from wanting the miraculous. Wasn't she supposed to learn new techniques and tricks as she got better at using the miraculous? Wasn't Papillon supposed to divulge more into what his "grand-evil plan" was?

It was just what Adrien's father said, they were children. Children playing a game of pretend, but instead of sticks and toys, there was magic and a mad man hell bent on stopping their game for his unknown purpose.

This unveiling of Chat's identity somehow brought with it more questions than it did answers. She suddenly found herself questioning her reasons for being involved in these fights. Now more than ever she needed to know why. She was in the dark and it was aggravating, aggravating beyond all belief. Marinette needed something to fill the hole of confusion that had continued to grow and fester. _Why the hell was she so ignorant of the matters?_

Her pencil snapped in half in her palm. Alya and Nino looked up from their school work to Marinette.

She had been seething, and she didn't even realize it. Her hands shook as she looked at the pencil she had just unconsciously broke.

"Marinette are you okay?" Alya asked from Marinette's side.

She took a deep breath to quell her sudden upwell of anger and keep herself from shouting at her friends for no good reason.

"I-'m not sure," Was the only answer Marinette could muster, her head was spinning to much for her to really know how she was aside from unbelievably confused and furious at that confusion.

"Would you like some tea?" Alya knit her eyebrows together when she looked at her and Marinette felt a pang of guilt for making Alya worry.

"S-sure," She croaked.

Alya got up from her spot between Marinette and Nino and headed down to make tea, no doubt she would make some for all three of them. Nino glanced at Marinette in his ever curious look, she instinctively brought her hands together to spin Chat's ring around her finger.

She got not one twist before Nino's hand snuck in and grabbed her wrist.

Panic welled in her as Nino's grip was too hard and he jerked her hand up to eye level.

"Nino what-" She stopped.

Nino was staring at the ring on her finger, his face changed from one of shock to that of anger, he recognized the ring.

 _No._

"Nino! Let go!" She yelled, barely trying to pull her arm out of his tightening grip. Her body was too rigid to register her mental pleading to run, do something.

"Where did you get this?" Nino hissed, his eyes burned with fury. Marinette had never really seen him like this before, it was terrifying.

"N-Nino, let go!" She weakly pleaded with him.

"No! What the fuck Marinette?!"

Alya burst into the room in a frenzy, they were the only ones at Nino's place at the moment and her friends yelling was more than enough concern to go running for them. She saw their predicament as Marinette struggled to get out of Nino's grasp and ran to pull him away.

"Nino! What are you doing? Let her go!"

He didn't hear her, instead shaking Marinette's hand with his own and continuing his tirade.

"This is _his_ ring! This is Adrien's ring, his miraculous! Why the hell do you have it?!"

Tears welled up in her eyes, she didn't know what to say, what to do. Her fear kept her locked in place as Nino blew up right in front of her. Alya's tugging did next to nothing to stop him.

"What did you do to him Marinette?! Why do you have his Miraculous?! Where did you get it?!"

"He gave it to me!" She screamed back, Nino barely slowed, "He gave it to me to protect after I brought him to the ER!"

Like a stopwatch everything suddenly froze. Nino and Alya stared at Marinette with wide eyes, silence filling the room and tension feeling thick like jello.

No, nononono. She just told them, she wasn't supposed to do that! No one was supposed to know, she couldn't let the secret get out.

"You're…" Alya mumbled out, starting her confirmation that Marinette was Ladybug.

Marinette wanted to stop it and find some way to deny it, but she couldn't. She had no other explanation for this, there was no other way she could convince them otherwise. They had too many facts and Marinette couldn't deny them at this point no matter how hard she tried.

"You're Ladybug," Alya finished.

There was a pause.

"…I am," Marinette confirmed, her voice barely audible.

Nino let go of her wrist and snapped his hand back to his chest as if Marinette had burned him.

Her shoulders shook as she cried harder and cupped her hands back to her own chest. This wasn't supposed to happen, they weren't supposed to know.

"Please, please, don't tell anyone," She pleaded through her tears, looking down at her lap as they went dribbling down her nose, "If anyone knows that I'm Ladybug, if it gets out to the media, then I'll become a target for Papillon, and I won't be able to protect Adrien. I can't let that happen, I can't let anyone else get hurt. Please! Don't tell anyone."

There was a moment of unbearable silence, as Alya and Nino took a moment to assess her words and what they truly meant. Alya was the first to pipe up, moving from her place behind Nino to one next to Marinette where she rested her hands on her shoulders.

"Shhhsh, it's okay Marinette," She spoke with a soft voice that only did so much to comfort Marinette, "We-we won't tell anyone your secret. We promise."

Nino said nothing, and the terror continued to flow through her at the possibility that he wouldn't agree to Alya's promise. Marinette raised her head to peek at Nino through her bangs.

Of all things Marinette did not expect to see guilt stretched across his face. Shock, anger, and betrayal, yes. But not guilt.

"You, i-it was you the whole time," He breathed, she gave no response, "You had to carry him to the hospital. He was… your partner."

Marinette leaned closer to Alya. She wasn't sure where Nino was going with his realization, just hoping that he wouldn't run off. She put her trust in Alya's confidence that they wouldn't tell anyone.

"You-you had to deal with all that, and you, you've been having nightmares. And I thought… fuck I've been such an ass," Nino sighed, his whole body slumping, "I'm so sorry Marinette, stars I'm so sorry you had to go through that, I'm sorry I've been so angry at you."

"…I-it's not your fault Nino," She muttered in response, not sure how else to react to his shame other than to reassure him, "You were perfectly justified in your feelings, you didn't know. Neither of you did, you weren't supposed to know."

Nino shuffled over to Marinette and Alya across the ground and slowly pulled Marinette up and into a hug. She took a deep intake of air and wrapped her arms around Nino, letting out another quiet sob as she held tightly onto his shirt. She heard Alya's quiet shhs's as her hand rub against Marinette's back in an attempt to calm her down.

"We won't tell anyone," Nino whispered, "We won't say anything outside of us. Don't worry Marinette we won't anyone know that you're Ladybug."

"We're here for you Marinette," Alya reassured, "We won't let you do this alone, we'll be here for you."

The terrible fear of losing everything was replaced by a buildup of relief that gradually went through Marinette. It felt good holding her friends and being held by them, and it felt so good to hear them tell her that it was okay. They we're here, with her, and sure to make sure she stayed together. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen, but it felt oddly good that it did happen this way. It was good that she had support, that she had her friends.

"Thank you, thank you," She repeated over and over again into Nino's shirt, "Thank you."

* * *

Marinette didn't know how they ended up in the position they did, their homework having long since been abandoned in favor of drinking tea to calm down after that emotional tirade. Marinette was curled in Alya's lap with her legs draped across Nino's lap from where he sat next to them. Alya's hands ran through Marinette's hair in a very soothing manner. She held Nino's hand as his thumb rolled over her knuckles, feeling her heart squeeze just a little whenever his thumb would brush and linger over Chat's ring.

It was quiet aside from their synchronized breathing, no one shared a word following the initial explosion for they were unsure of what to say next. Though, that wasn't entirely true, Marinette knew what she needed to say. She needed to answer their questions, they probably had many floating around in their heads, and she needed to tell them about her visit with Adrien. They needed to know now.

"Alya, Nino?" She whispered after hyping herself up internally.

They both lifted their heads slightly at the break in the silence.

"I know you both probably have questions," She took a deep breath to focus on her words, "So, I'm going to allow you each one question, for now."

Marinette could manage one question from each of them for now. She could do that. Alya was quiet as she wracked her head for what one, singular, possible question she could ask now. She had too many to count and remained silent in thought. Nino seemed to find his question without too much thought and took the opportunity to ask.

"Did you know that Adrien was Chat Noir?" He asked softly, his thumb rolling over the ring once again.

"No," She answered, "We never knew each other's real identities, I made sure of that. It was important that we stay anonymous, there was safety in that."

"And you've been so worried about Papillon going and getting Adrien now that everyone knows who he is," Alya stated, recalling Marinette's fears after her first nightmare.

Marinette nodded, and it was followed by another moment of silence as Alya continued to contemplate her one question. At least that's what Marinette thought she was doing.

"Can't think of a question?" Marinette finally asked.

Alya lightly laughed from under her.

"It seems I can't pinpoint a single question right now," She said mirthfully, "But I'm going to claim exclusive interview rights from you two as of now."

"So long as you don't ask or post anything too revealing, I'll agree to that."

"Do you doubt me?" Alya joked.

"You've been intent on getting a hold of my identity since day one, so forgive me if I'm cautious," Marinette retorted, but playing along with the lighter air of the exchange.

"It's a shame, then, that you don't read my Ladyblog," Alya said with a shrug.

"Of course I do, what makes you think I don't?" Marinette was even pretty sure that she had helped with some of the design of the blog.

"Hmm, I guess you just haven't been reading it as of recent," Alya thought offhandedly.

"Well, no, not especially," Marinette said, was there something Alya was getting at?

Before Marinette could ask, Alya had pulled out her phone and was fiddling with it over Marinette's head.

"I thinks its best if you just read this," Alya said handing over the phone and continuing to run her fingers through Marinette's hair.

The device was open to one particular post on the blog page, another paragraph of text. The title of the post was what caught Marinette's attention first.

"Why I'm no Longer Looking for Ladybug's Secret Identity".

It had posted yesterday during lunch, before Adrien had even woken up. She continued to read.

"Hello everyone, I know you're probably curious as to why I've suddenly decided to stop looking for Ladybug's identity after two years of active searching and speculating. I'm sure most of you know this has been triggered by the recent events with Chat identity. It has been a startling realization to me by one on my friends that Chat's identity being revealed has put him in a great amount of danger. Papillon knows where he is and he knows who Adrien's loved one are, who can be used as leverage."

Marinette found herself peeking up from the phone at Nino for a brief moment. _Leverage_ , she had to protect him just as much as she had to protect Adrien. She had to watch over Adrien's family, or more so his father. His cold, cold father.

"Ladybug's anonymity is to her advantage. Her family and friends are safe from Papillon, her miraculous is safe, _she_ is safe. From now on, Chat can only be so safe. There is power in information, there is power in keeping your identity secret. This has been brought to the forefront of my thoughts by my worried friend and so I will let Ladybug's identity remain secret. Thank you".

Marinette smile at Alya's little commentary. Alya would keep her safe, and in turn Marinette would do the same. A slew of comments underneath, some agreeing with the post and some fighting it. She didn't want to read any of that so she handed the phone back to Alya.

"Thanks for having my back before knowing it was my back you had," Marinette said, she gave Nino's hand a light squeeze as extra.

"Of course," Alya responded.

The conversation waned and Marinette recalled what else she wanted to say, she took a deep breath to ready herself again.

"I went to see Adrien today," She said.

Alya tense beneath her, her hand stopping in Marinette's hair, while Nino squeezed her hand.

"How is he?" Alya asked softly.

"He's well," Marinette answered, "He's confined to his bed for the time being as he can't feel anything. He's on a lot of pain meds."

Nino let out a small relived sigh.

"And he's talking, a lot, the medicine makes him ramble," She laughed lightly, "He said he's been sleeping a lot, and…"

"And?" Both Alya and Nino lightly questioned.

"And he's worried about us, of course."

"He's worried about _us_?"

"Chat never had much concern for his wellbeing, I guess that bled over into how Adrien is as well," Marinette sighed, he really shouldn't be like that.

There was another moment of silence as everyone contemplated what that all meant. Nino spoke up again.

"Did you run into his dad?"

Marinette frowned and clenched her free hand at the thought of her run-in with Gabriel.

"I did," She almost growled out.

"And?"

"He doesn't want me to see Adrien, to even come near him," She explained, not delving into how he shouted at her or how he asked the worrisome question about her miraculous, "I can't exactly do that though, Adrien asked me to bring his phone tomorrow. So, you'll be able to talk to him soon."

Another squeeze from Nino, he looked like he wanted to say something but only let out a quiet "thank you."

She nodded lightly.

"What about everyone else?" Alya finally asked, causing Marinette and Nino to look at her in question, "Are you going to tell them that he's okay? Or just wait until he messages them?"

"No. Actually, my original plan was to tell you and the rest of the class about my visit, tomorrow morning as Ladybug. I was also going to tell everyone to write letters or bring small gifts that I could take to him while he's there," She informed. The gifts were sure to make Adrien happy, to know that everyone was thinking about him, "They'd bring them the next class day and I'd act as deliverer for Adrien, since no one else can visit him."

Or attempt to visit him, Marinette thought, she would just have to be extra elusive.

Or maybe face the man head-on, she'd already done it before.

Thought she really, really, really didn't want to do it again.

"That'll be great, everyone will love that," Alya said.

"I hope they will."

Nino nodded, "Adrien certainly will, he's such a sap."

The three of them laughed in agreement.

* * *

A/N: I love dramatic reveals, and I kinda jinxed myself out of the reveals I typically write by putting Chat's at the beginning, so I made up for it with this. I cannot seem to like how it comes out no matter what I do with it though :/... Also sorry this chapter is so short, I'm rather bad at writing conversation (and having conversations OTL), and didn't want to add any other scenes to this chapter.

If your curious about my amputation (cause one person asked) I have a bit more info about it on my profile. Or just ask me questions off of guest so I can actually respond ya noodle.


	7. Encouragement

Chapter 7: Encouragement

She awoke in silence and light peeking from the window. Another nightmare had happened, but Marinette found that she was able to force herself awake this time. She couldn't remember what happen in the dream, just flashes of faces and moths.

Her body was not tense, only numb. She did not scream, she did not panic, she just opened her eyes, and everything was there. Alya and Nino were curled up on both sides of her on the bed, they had insisted she sleep in the middle.

Marinette took a deep breath from where she lay, there was comfort in their presence. Alya and Nino now knew of her identity, and they stayed by her side. Even though this was never planned, it was good. She had them.

And Adrien knew her identity as well, he knew everything about being a superhero that she knew.

Marinette did not tell Alya and Nino about the kwamis, there was safety in no one knowing of their existence. Should someone attempt to steal her and Chat's Miraculous, they may overlook the kwami. Although, Plagg came out in plain sight, everyone could see him, he must have been in the video. Did the people know what he was, his significance? She could only hope that they did not figure it out.

Alya shifted in her sleep and pressed closer to Marinette. She found herself smiling at the warmth her friends offered. But there was light in the room, which meant that they needed to get up, to get ready for school. She slowly managed to pry herself from Alya and Nino's grips in order to rise and get ready for the day, they both groaned from the movement and loss of heat. With a stretch and a shift, Marinette effectively woke Alya and Nino up as she pulled the blankets up off the bed. More groaning occurred but they eventually got up.

As Marinette packed up for class, she grabbed Adrien's phone and put it deep in her backpack. She had gotten it last night with general ease, and more importantly no one saw her, she didn't need weird rumors floating about from these house visits.

She did not arrive with Alya and Nino to class when they left for school that morning, instead thinking it less suspicious to visit as Ladybug and address the class first, and then arrive as the ever-late Marinette just in the nick of time for class to start.

From the roof, Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around the ledge and slowly lowered herself down the wall until she hung before the window to her class. Peering in she saw most everyone was there, anyone who wasn't could get her information from the rest of the class. She brought her hand forward and tapped on the glass, many of the students jumped at seeing her but Nino had quickly gotten up from his seat to open the window. She slipped into the class with ease, her yo-yo retracting back to her hand.

The students looked at Ladybug eagerly, Chloé only glanced at her from the side of her eyes, as if giving all her attention to Ladybug was a chore. She supposed it was better than Chloé hanging off her neck for pictures together.

"You're Cha-Adrien's," Shit which should she call him in front of the class? It didn't matter, keep going, "Class correct?"

"Did you go see him?" One student asked.

"I did-"

"How is he?" The class jumped forward in question before she could explain.

"He's well. He's not in pain, he's talking fine, he's been sleeping a lot for the most part with the medication they're giving him, but it doesn't seem like there's anything all too wrong. He's safe," She said the last part with her "reassuring Ladybug" voice. Alya and Nino shared a look that she barely caught, they knew that she thought otherwise.

"Can you take us to him?" Chloé suddenly pleaded.

"What?" Ladybug wasn't expecting that.

"Can you take us to see him while he's in the hospital? You're the only one that can see him, surely you can bring one of us along with you," Chloé begged as she got up from her seat, her eyes were filled with concern and sadness when Ladybug looked at her, "Of course I understand if you can only bring his _closest_ friends."

Ladybug glanced at Nino. He looked uncomfortable, and she realized that he wanted to ask her the same thing last night, but refrained from doing so. The class frowned at Chloé's obnoxious implication that they should not get to see him but looked eagerly for Ladybug's answer.

She shook her head and frowned.

"I'm sorry, I can't bring you to him," She answered not really wanting to explain that _she_ technically wasn't allowed to visit him from here on. The class deflated at her answer and Chloé scowled from her spot in front of Ladybug.

"But!" Ladybug said, bringing the class' attention back and stopping Chloé before she could say anything, "I'm going to bring him his phone today, so you can start talking to him, he's eager to talk to all of you."

There was an excited chorus of shared looks from classmates about being able to talk to Adrien himself.

"And, I can bring him small gifts. From all of you of course," She said, the class was getting excited but Chloé remained unimpressed, "If you all make some cards or get some gifts for Adrien, I can bring them to him. Nothing too big of course, I can only carry so much, but I'm sure Adrien will appreciate anything you make him, to show that you care about him."

The class was excited by this prospect, being able to give gifts to Adrien with their wishes for him to get well. Chloé's frown deepened and she slunk back to her seat. Ladybug knew there was no way to console her as she wanted to _see_ Adrien, but was appreciative of her not attempting to breakout a fight.

"I'll come by tomorrow morning to for whatever you bring for Adrien," She finalized.

"But tomorrow is a Saturday," one student mentioned.

Ladybug faltered at the realization. Tomorrow was Saturday, so, today was Friday. Had it really almost been a week since the event? How had that-

Nino tapped her on the shoulder bringing her back to the class. She barely jumped.

"Yes, Monday morning then. I'll come by," She shook her head trying not to sound like she had briefly spaced out just then, "See to it that everyone in the class gets the message."

She smiled at the class and launched her yo-yo out the window to swing away. Cheerful "Good bye's" and "thank you's" followed her as she left.

Ladybug swung and landed by a recluse part of the school on the opposite side of her class and released her transformation. Tikki zipped out before her and smiled at Marinette.

"You're doing really good Marinette," She commented, Plagg peeked out of her purse and gave a quiet agreement.

She looked a little shocked by the statement. It didn't feel like there was much to her running around, she was just doing what needed to be done.

"Thank you," She gave a small smile to the kwami.

Tikki joined Plagg in Marinette's purse as she headed around to the front of the school to get to class in time. Only two reporters remained by the entrance, both blissfully unaware of Ladybug's actions that occurred so close to them. Marinette easily sped past them and to her class before the bell. When she entered, there was quite a commotion between the students as they discussed what they all should bring or make for Adrien, Marinette held in a smile and feigned confusion at the whole situation. Alya turned to Marinette as she sat down.

"Did you hear Marinette? Ladybug came by to see us," Alya said holding up her phone to show off a picture she caught of Ladybug addressing the class.

Marinette confusion turned from false to real as she got a closer look at Alya's phone, she hadn't even seen Alya take the picture.

"How did- When did you?"

"I can be sneaky when I want to be," Alya chuckled before casually repeating Ladybug's words to Marinette so the class knew that she "got the message".

* * *

Afterschool Alya and Nino gave Marinette wishes of good luck for her visit to Adrien, hopeful that she would actually be able to see him.

Marinette transformed in an alleyway on her way home. She placed Plagg, Adrien's phone, and charger in the blank cloth bag, tied it around her hip, and dropped her book bag off in her room before heading to the hospital.

She had no plan for getting around Gabriel, simply hoping that her luck would be by her side and that he would be gone for the time being. Ladybug landed before the side door and knocked on it sharply. There was a moment of waiting in silence that made Ladybug anxious, but the door flung open by the front desk clerk. They smiled, probably expecting her, which was good. The last thing Ladybug needed was for the hospital staff to be against her.

"We're glad to see you're back," The clerk leading her to Adrien's room commented, "We heard about your visit to Adrien's classmates on the Ladyblog, it drove the reporters nuts that they didn't catch you but it drive some of them away from the hospital entrance."

Ladybug simply nodded as she was passed over to a nurse, recalling how the number of reporters outside of the school jumped in number after Alya's post about her visit. Alya didn't disclose many of the details as to why Ladybug was at their class, and none of the students in their class actually acknowledged the reporters. So much of the public and other media sources didn't know that Ladybug was going to the school again, or that she would be bringing Adrien gifts from the class. Better to keep the situation from getting out of control as fans would attempt to send their own gifts to Adrien through Ladybug.

"What about Gabriel?" Ladybug asked, voicing her real concern over this visit.

"Luck is your special ability, is it not?" The nurse who had come by and was now leading her to Adrien's room lightly laughed, "He happen to step out for an unknown reason not too long ago, Adrien isn't even sure why. We're not certain when he'll return, but we'll try to keep him out of the room if he does return too soon."

Ladybug thanked the nurse as they approached Adrien's room. She felt jittery as the nurse peeked in the room and she remembered that she had left after telling Adrien who she was. She wondered if he was going to act differently towards her, after thinking it over he realized that there was no reason for him to be glad that Marinette was Ladybug. The nurse offered the door and Ladybug entered with a quiet "thank you", letting it close behind her.

Adrien lay in his bed beaming at her, a book pushed to the side of his bed.

"Hello," She greeted quietly, walking over to him and pulling over a chair to sit next to him again.

"Hiii!" He drawled, still beaming at her, was he alright?

"I-uh brought your phone," She said pulling out the aforementioned object and letting Plagg casually float out of the bag and over to Adrien. He rubbed up against Adrien's cheek in greeting before settling on his shoulder.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Adrien cheered taking it from her hands and turning it on.

He was briefly distracted by his phone slowly coming back to life before he looked at Ladybug.

And he really looked at her, straight into her eyes with his face full of concentration.

"Is something wrong?" Ladybug asked, feeling odd as he looked at her so hard.

"You know, I can see it now," He said with a lopsided grin, she looked at him in question, "The similarities between you and Marinette."

"Please," Plagg scoffed, "You couldn't see the similarities even with them standing right in front of you. And they did, many-a-time."

"Oh come on Plagg," Adrien began to retort, but Plagg just rolled his eyes.

"You are probably one of the most oblivious wielders I have ever had," Plagg snorted, it was Adrien's turn to roll his eyes with a huff.

"Whatever the case, the point I was getting at was, I _like_ that Marinette is Ladybug," He said moving his attention from Plagg back to Ladybug.

She clenched her fists and her body tenses, feeling incredibly shy but not looking away from Adrien.

"Honestly, learning that you've been Ladybug this entire time, makes you all the more incredible," Ladybug wasn't expecting the compliment and had to make a physical effort not to let her mouth gape, "I mean, you're such a talented person with the things you make, and your nice to everyone you meet and the fact that you juggled being class president with school and your personal projects and even Ladybug for so long is really amazing."

Ladybug's face heated up and she thought she might smack Adrien just to make him stop talking, stop saying such ridiculous things. She didn't catch Plagg's gagging expressions as she kept her eyes locked on Adrien's.

"Can I kiss you?" Adrien seemingly asked out of the blue.

"What?" Ladybug jumped.

"Well- um," He looked nervous for a moment at her reaction before bringing himself back together, "You-no. I like both Marinette and Ladybug. I think you're an amazing person all around, and… I'd like to kiss you."

"O-oh," Was all that she could manage.

"We-uh, you don't have to though," Seeing Adrien become flustered was something that Ladybug never imagined she would witness right before her, "If-if you don't want to, of course."

She shook her head to focus, now was not the time to freeze up.

"No, I-" She took a breath and let a small smile play on her lips, "I would like to kiss you. And I like both Adrien and Chat as well. In a way, your contrasts in being Adrien and Chat Noir complement each other, it makes you more complete."

Adrien was once again beaming at her.

"Really?" He asked with a sparkle in his eyes, he was quite adorable when he wanted to be.

"Really," She murmured slipping her hand into his, he gave her a squeeze.

She partially stood up as she leaned forward to reach him. She held his cheek and closed her eyes as they brought their lips together. The kiss was warm and light, nothing like the passion of fireworks like so many would describe first kisses, but more like a familiar feeling of caring that was almost fluttery. She felt nice, and she honestly wanted to kiss him again as they gently pulled apart.

The only reason she didn't was a very quick flash of a feeling that there should have been someone else with them. She didn't know who, and the feeling was gone as soon as it was there. She didn't dwell on it, instead opening her eyes to focus on Adrien before her, he was smiling and that was good.

"Uggh, this is always the worst part," Plagg said with a groan.

Adrien and Ladybug focused back on their surroundings and pulled away slowly, looking over to Plagg.

"What part?" Adrien asked.

"The part where you two start being all lovey-dovey," Plagg rolled his eyes as if it was obvious, "Tikki may think its adorable, but there's only so many times you can see something before it get exhausting, and obnoxious."

Ladybug found herself laughing at Plagg's statement.

"I don't think I'll be that bad," She commented.

"That's what they all say."

Ladybug continued to laugh and Adrien joined her. It was still a light laugh, not quite full, but better than yesterday's. They calmed down and Ladybug spoke, effectively changing the subject.

"I went to see our class as Ladybug this morning," She said.

"You did?" He perked up at this.

"Yes, everyone's really worried about you since they can't go and visit you themselves," Adrien frowned, "So I went and told them how you were, and I asked that they bring something for you while you're here in the hospital and I could deliver it to them. It'll most likely be a bunch of get well soon cards and a few small gifts."

Adrien looked honestly touched, and let his smile come back.

"Thank you so much, you didn't need to do that."

"I did, for you, and for our classmates. Everyone's been worried about you. In fact you should probably send them some messages," She said gesturing to his sleeping phone, "They'll want to hear from you."

Adrien nodded happily. Ladybug stood up, happy to know that her first little task was completed and not wanting to push her luck with Adrien's father once again.

"I better get going, I'll see you Monday."

Adrien said his good byes with Ladybug and then with Plagg, who flew back into the bag when they were done. She left looking around to see if Gabriel was somehow prowling around, but there was no one. Closing the door behind her, Ladybug informed the front desk clerk that she would be there again that Monday at the same time to deliver gifts from his class. They assured her that they would try to have Gabriel out of the room for her visit. Satisfied with the answer she left the hospital and headed to Nino's home.

Alya voiced her disappointment that Marinette didn't come over by entering through Nino's window as Ladybug. Marinette immediately retorted that is would be suspicious to Nino's family if Marinette suddenly appeared in his room without having come through the front door. Nino agreed with both so he couldn't be accused of taking sides.

Alya and Nino asked Marinette how her visit with Adrien had been. She only got one word out, when Nino's phone began ringing. It was the ringtone for a video chat.

It was Adrien, calling Nino. Nino brought his phone over so the four of them could talk. It was tense for a moment until Marinette explained that she had told Alya and Nino about her identity as well as Adrien. He did not hide the whine in his voice at hearing that.

They talked amongst each other about how things had been for each of them. It was wonderful watching how Nino lit up at seeing Adrien and getting to talk to him. They talked the most while Alya and Marinette would occasionally add their own little comments and quips here and there. Amazingly enough, Gabriel didn't show up at any point. Marinette and Adrien were concerned but Nino was just glad to be able to talk to Adrien without dealing with Adrien's father.

Eventually, after talking for a while about hospitals, schools, and everyday life, they had to stop as Adrien couldn't hide the big yawn he let out. They bid their goodbyes and cut the video chat.

* * *

Marinette spent the weekend with her parents. They voiced their happiness at being able to see her for more than just a meal and made comment that she seemed happier as well.

For the most part she was happier, and eager to see Adrien again. He didn't message her frequently, probably still sleeping more than anything, but when he did he made sure to talk to her as only Marinette. They only talked about light topics, what they were doing and other everyday things, Marinette was grateful for that. Adrien's messages sometimes wouldn't make sense, and were often filled with spelling errors, which admittedly was rather amusing to read, but he never called her. That was probably attributed to his father's presence in the room, they wouldn't want his Gabriel to hear their conversations, especially should something slip. It didn't matter though, she was just glad to be hearing from him.

Catching up on homework and helping out in the bakery was how she passed the time. She kept herself distracted however she could. Distracted from the media. Distracted from Papillon's unnerving silence. Distracted from her thoughts. It was getting easier to do so.

The weekend passed with surprising ease. There were still nightmares, but they woke her up in silence instead of panics and were gone as soon as she caught the light. Her only indication that she was even still having them was the clench of her heart when she woke up and the weird flashes she would see shortly after their happening. The worst thing was waking up without Alya or Nino, or even Adrien ridiculously enough, it was lonely without them next to her.

Marinette hadn't seen Alya or Nino all weekend and she was honestly eager to see them again in class. Whether or not they were going to sleep over at Nino's or someone else's place again was up for debate though.

First, Ladybug needed to see the class.

She was wary as she swung up to the school, reporters might be on the lookout for her. With luck, she slid down the school wall to the window of her class without being seen by any outsiders. The students let her in and happily gave her the cards they had for Adrien. A few small plush cats saying "get well soon" made Ladybug laugh internally. Nothing was too big and easily fit into the plastic bag she had brought wrapped around her wrist.

Alya gave two letters, "From Marinette," She said with a wink. Ladybug was worriedly curious as to what was inside the letter, it had one of her flower designs on the front in red ink, probably from the stamp she had made for Alya a few months before.

Most everyone had handed their gifts to Ladybug when Chloé entered the room. Ladybug had, amazingly enough, forgotten about her, but Chloé was sure to make her presence known as she entered.

The students awkwardly made way for Chloé as she approached Ladybug in a straight step with a pot of flowers in many different colors. She put the flowers down onto the desk next to Ladybug and the bag of gifts with a harsh thud. Chloé looked down at the flowers and didn't say anything for a second.

"I know you said not to bring anything too big," She began quietly, "But chrysanthemums are his favorite." Her voice had been hard but the fact that Chloé wouldn't meet her eyes seemed to make her words warble. Nobody argued as Chloé slipped her hands off the pot and walked to her seat.

Ladybug didn't know what to say. She technically _could_ bring the flowers to Adrien, the pot wasn't too big and it was the only one, but something in her was still afraid of how Chloé would react if she said anything. The way she entered was a bit frightening to Ladybug.

The last of the students slowly put their own gifts in the bag before going back to their seats.

"Thank you everyone, I'm sure Adrien will love all of these," She said sliding the handles of the bag up her arm and awkwardly hugging the pot of flowers to her body without damaging them. The students voiced their own "Thank yous" as she swung away.

With her arms partially full, Ladybug moved as fast as she could to drop the gifts off in her room before rushing back in the direction of the school. Again she released her transformation by the side of the school and ran into her first class of the day. She was late, she knew that would happen, but her teacher was a bit more sympathetic to her as she plopped a small stack of her extended-time homework onto their desk along with Nino and Chloé's piles.

* * *

Getting to the hospital was a bit more awkward than originally anticipated. Through a series of plastic bags, Ladybug had managed to get the flower pot on her back along with the other gifts. Unfortunately this proved to throw off her balance just enough for her to nearly scrape more than a few buildings and almost crash into the side door of the hospital. When she managed to stabilized herself, she pulled off the "backpack" of gifts and inspected the contents, the letters were barely crinkled and only one flower looked like it got a little hurt in the journey, but nothing too bad.

The door swung open before she could close the bag and knock, the front desk clerk greeted her.

"Oh good, you're here, we managed to distract Gabriel for the time being but we can't be sure how long it will last," They blurted right away, ushering her in and leading the way to Adrien's room.

"Thank you very much. I'll make sure to be quick" She followed closely behind.

Adrien looked to be dosing off when Ladybug entered the room with gifts in tow. He perked up immediately at seeing her and made sure to straighten himself up.

"I come bearing gifts," Ladybug happily announced.

Plagg quietly floated over to Adrien as Ladybug set the bags down on his bed and opened them to pull out Chloé's flowers.

"Chrysanthemums!" He noted gleefully.

"From Chloé," She said, putting them on a shelf next to his bed.

He pulled the bag over to him to rummage around and pulled out the plush "get well soon" cats with a laugh.

"These are adorable!" Adrien cheered, showing the cats to an unimpressed Plagg.

"There are cards as well," Ladybug commented as Adrien set the cats down on the bed, "From just about everyone in class."

Adrien pulled out the stack of cards and shuffled through them, mentally noting who each of the cards was from. He pursed his lips and turned to Ladybug, "There's seems to be something wrong."

She pinched her eyebrows in question and looked over the cards, "What's wrong?"

"I can't seem to find Marinette's card," He smiled warmly as he said that, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes.

She frowned, recalling the card Alya had given her. She opened it before she came to the hospital, the front of the card had only the flower stamp but the inside was full of a ridiculous, over-dramatic love confession that was _embarrassing as hell._ Needless to say, she left the letter at home buried under her mattress, never to see the light of day. Alya would be getting an earful from her later about her prank.

"You rich boys, so greedy. Isn't it enough that she comes to visit you," She jokingly commented with a shrug.

"It's simply not enough!" Adrien said with his own mirth, his attitude changed to be a bit slyer, "Though, there is something she can do to make up for it."

She eyed him suspiciously, "And what is that?"

"I think another kiss would be sufficient enough," He commented off to the side, as if not sure he could ask for one again.

Her eyebrows raised slightly as she had not considered that he would ask again, but she wasn't opposed to the idea, she smiled and gave a little shake of her head.

"I suppose I can manage one before I go," She rolled her eyes as she leaned down to him.

They kissed, and again, it was light and warm. It felt wonderful, this little connection with him. They pulled away shortly after and Ladybug caught Plagg rolling his eyes and sticking out his tongue in the corner of her eye.

She left him with a lopsided grin on his face as he watched her go and turned to the pile of letters in his lap. _This was going well._

Ladybug turned, took a few steps down the hall to her left, and looked up to see Gabriel Agreste standing at the end of that hallway. He was staring right at her, his face still and hiding any emotion he might be feeling aside from continual exhaustion, a nurse was right next to him, worriedly looking between the two. Ladybug felt her spine stiffen and her nerves steel themselves but she did not take a step forward.

Gabriel was the one to make the first move, his steps were agonizingly slow, but he poised himself as he walked straight for her. The nurse looked distressed about what to do as they skittered behind him, Ladybug looked at them and nodded for the nurse to leave the two of them alone. The nurse headed down a different hallway as Gabriel approached her.

He was a tall man, and towered over her easily, especially with how he held his back straight, but Ladybug made it a point to show that she could hold her own before him.

"I see you went against my demands to not see Adrien again," He said, his voice low and cool, lacking any inflection or emotion. It unnerved Ladybug.

"I did, you didn't bring him his phone and his friends and classmates are worried for him. I understand that the media can be bothersome and intrusive, so I've been acting as a communicator between Adrien and the people that care for him," She explained, trying to imitate Gabriel and use the same flat tone and straight forward explanation.

He narrowed his eyes at her words, "As much as I hate to say it, you make him happy," Ladybug perked up, that was different. She wasn't sure how to respond, Gabriel continued, "I do not want you near him, but it seems you will not go away."

"You can't keep him isolated from the rest of the world," She almost growled out.

Gabriel actually sighed at that and turned his head off to the side, his eyes were unfocused as he thought upon something else, "I'm well aware of that. But understand that having him attend public school and spend time with his friends," He took a breath and turned to glare down at Ladybug, "And having him running around, throwing his self into deadly situations playing superhero, are vastly different things. And I do not appreciate him engaging with the latter."

Ladybug frowned, but couldn't argue against it. She understood that any parent would not be thrilled but the prospect of their child being a superhero and putting themselves in danger, her parents certainly wouldn't appreciate to learn that she was Ladybug.

"I think it best that you hand over your and his miraculous to an adult," Gabriel stated holding out his hand.

Wait, what?

She looked up to him in question. Gabriel's face was blank as he continued to hold out his arm.

"What?" She simply asked when he did not continue.

"I believe you and Adrien were a danger to yourselves when you were playing as Ladybug and Chat Noir. This need to stop and you need to hand over your miraculous to an adult, give them to me," He elaborated, pushing his hand slightly forward.

"D-do you realize what the miraculous are?" She asked, absolutely astonished by his request, "They're not just toys to be handed over to any person willy-nilly, they're ancient magical items that are given to people for a reason."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, displeased by her answer and overall resistance, "Which is precisely the reason why they should not be in the hands of a child," He stated taking a step forward.

Ladybug, in turn, took a step back.

"I can't give you our Miraculous, they are not yours to have," She clenched her fists and tried to find a way to slip past him.

Like clockwork though, Gabriel seemed to snap. His body shot forward, he grabbed her by the arms, picked her up, and pinned her against the nearby wall.

"Listen girl," He hissed low enough for only her to hear, though she could barely hear him through the pulsing in her ears, "This is not a request, you have shown that you are not capable of holding the Miraculous. I will not have my son get hurt again you hear? Give me your miraculous and this whole fiasco will be over with."

Ladybug panicked, she squirmed to get free but her arms were pinned and Gabriel's grip was too tight. Eventually instinct kicked in and she brought her leg up to kick Gabriel in the gut, hard. The man doubled over from the pain of the blow and dropped Ladybug and he wrapped his arms around his middle. Without missing a beat, Ladybug scrambled up to her feet and went sprinting down the halls.

She did not stop until she burst out the door, panting heavily from the panic and the running for a moment and then pulling out her yo-yo to rush home. The front desk clerk came rushing out of the door and yelled in question about what happened but she couldn't hear them. She would not be able to return to the hospital after pulling a move like that on Gabriel.

* * *

A/N: Hooray afull length chapter! Don't look too much into flower language for the Chrysanthemums, I just think they're a pretty flower (and fun to say). Chapters may be coming a bit slower as finals are upon me, I've ran out of pre-written chapters, and I don't have as solid of an idea about what happen in this part of the story and need to figure and flesh that out.


	8. La Nouveau Semaine

Chapter 8: La Nouveau Semaine

A/N: The beginning is kind of bad mostly because I had no idea how to start this chapter, so I do apologize of that. And Coccinelle is the French word for ladybug in case ya didn't know.

* * *

The week seemed to pass in an odd blur. Marinette would go to school during the day, hang out with Alya and Nino for lunch and after school, and then head home to sleep, and repeat. She had a couple of nightmares with Gabriel in them as opposed to Papillon causing a ruckus in her head, in those dreams it was only her and Gabriel, no one else. She would always wake up with her heart clenched and wishing for Alya, Nino, or Adrien to be near her.

Talking with Alya, Nino, and messaging Adrien was how she got along. She didn't dare actually visit Adrien in the hospital this week, she had done what she needed and couldn't risk running into his father anymore. Not after what she had seen from him, not after what she had done to him. Her only solace was that the information didn't show up in the news. The only ones who knew was her, Gabriel, Alya, and Nino. She didn't want to tell Adrien just yet, it would be weird to explain that she had technically assaulted his father, and Gabriel obviously hadn't brought the topic up with Adrien himself.

Alya, Nino, and her had agreed they didn't need to spend their nights together. Well verbally they did, Marinette very much wanted to spend her nights with them, but she found the thought to be childish. She didn't want either of them to worry so she stayed quiet, and enjoyed her afternoons with them as she could.

Adrien often helped fill in the times Marinette was on her own before she would go to sleep, he couldn't all the time considering how much he was sleeping. It was enjoyable though, getting to talk with him about casual things, most of it was just Adrien wanting to know everything that he could about her. She always managed to smile when he would ask her questions, and he asked her multitudes of questions. She was sure he knew every obscure fact about her by now.

Nino was making jokes about how in-love Adrien was with Marinette after Adrien sent Nino an entire paragraph just blathering on about everything he liked about Marinette. Alya happily joined in the amusement when Nino showed her the text message, but they refused to show Marinette. She had to pin him down and temporarily steal his phone to read the message they were giggling to each other about, only to throw it back in embarrassment after reading the first few sentences. Marinette told Adrien that she was hearing everything that he was texting Nino, and Adrien responded by quickly messaging Nino not to tell Marinette, she was not supposed to hear what happened in their private conversations. Alya was laughing the entire time.

That Thursday, Adrien informed Marinette, Nino, and Alya that he would be released from the hospital sometime over the weekend. There was excitement between the three of them to hear that he was getting well enough to be released. The fear of Adrien dying was so far away, but something else was bothering Marinette, it was Papillon. Occasionally Marinette would ask Adrien if he had seen anyone acting with suspicion, anyone who could possibly be Papillon in disguise, trying to get to him.

The fact that Adrien reported no one in his vicinity was suspicious or even showed a threat unnerved Marinette more than it comforted her.

What was Papillon doing?

Why was he being silent?

What could he possibly be planning for Adrien?

Nobody knew. She didn't know. Adrien didn't know. Neither Alya nor Nino had any ideas. The kwamis didn't even know, they supported the idea that Papillon making a move now would be most logical.

But by all accounts, Papillon had done nothing. For two weeks.

Marinette thought she was going to explode.

Tikki suggested that Marinette go and talk to the old man, like she was going to earlier. Marinette had forgotten all about that after Adrien had woken up and Alya and Nino had learned of her identity. She honestly thought she was doing better and didn't need to see him with her friends around, and while Tikki had initially agreed with that train of thought, it was evident now that Marinette needed to talk to someone else with more experience.

Plagg scoffed, saying that Marinette was doing just fine and didn't need to get the old man involved.

Marinette was happy to hear his confidence in her but what he suggested next made her blood freeze.

"Why don't you just use the Coccinelle and Chat Miraculous together, track Papillon down, and end it all now?" He suggested as if it was an obvious path. Tikki smacked him, but Plagg barely reacted, instead watching Marinette's face.

"What?" Was all she could manage.

"N-nevermind what he said Marinette," Tikki quickly stumbled out, she was about say something else but Marinette beat her to it.

"The Miraculous can be used… together?" She stared at Plagg's bored expression.

"Oh course, using the Coccinelle and Chat Miraculous together gives one incredibly powerful abilities and heightened senses. You would be able to track down Papillon right away and take him down without much of a fight," Plagg explained casually. Tikki smacked him again.

"But the use of our Miraculous together is not to be taken lightly!" Tikki scolded Plagg as he gave her a disgruntled look and floated out of Tikki's reach, her eyes following his movement.

Marinette could barely hear them, "Powerful abilities?" She mumbled out in wonder, that could mean anything. That must have been why Papillon wanted their miraculous, if their miraculous could be combined and used together, their abilities used together to create an even more powerful being then themselves, abilities that even the kwamis were cautious to tell their wielders about for fear of what could happen. Who wouldn't want to possess that kind of power? Tikki had turned to her in concern. It now made sense why Papillon wanted them, it all made sense.

But Plagg had suggested that _she_ use the miraculous together, and she didn't necessarily want that, "That sounds… Overwhelming."

There was almost a visible sigh on Tikki's part, though Marinette was a bit surprised. She barely wanted the Ladybug miraculous when it was presented to her, why would she want to use the two miraculous together? The thought of having incredibly powerful, probably god-like abilities, was terrifying to her. To have such power would be crushing wouldn't it? To have abilities greater than the whole of your existence, who _would_ want that?

"I don't-" Marinette's head was swimming with the idea of having such power, of facing off with Papillon with such abilities, of facing him alone, "I can't do that."

Plagg frowned while Tikki gave her a sympathetic smile.

"It would be faster you know, we wouldn't have to keep playing his game, you wouldn't have to worry about Adrien while he's in the hospital. We could take him out one-on-one, and be done with it," _Adrien wouldn't have to be involved and get hurt again,_ were the words Marinette could hear beneath Plagg's reasoning.

"N-no," Marinette said, "I-I can't, I won't-"

"Shh, Marinette it's okay, you don't have to do that." Tikki cooed, floating up to Marinette's face.

"Don't make me do it alone," She finally mumbled out, she needed Chat there, she couldn't do it alone.

There was a flash of guilt across Plagg's face, he floated over and landed on top of Marinette's head, "Nevermind," Was all that was offered.

Throughout the night Marinette tried to let the idea go, to not think about it, but it stayed in the back of her mind no matter what she did. Plagg stayed on her head, probably as a way to keep from looking at her. She knew he was concerned for Adrien, and probably didn't want to risk him getting hurt again, especially so soon. Marinette didn't want that either, but at the very least if Adrien was going to go out as Chat Noir again, than she would be there with him as Ladybug watching his back the entire time.

The selfish part of her mind reasoned that she didn't want to be alone.

That was true.

But it continued its tirade but saying that _she_ didn't want to get hurt. It asked what would happen if Marinette was in Adrien's shoes. Something about that terrified her. She _didn't_ want to get hurt, but she certainly didn't want to let Adrien get hurt instead. Neither of them deserved that.

Her head continued to play with the thought of Adrien being in her shoes though. What would he do? Would he have used the Miraculous together? If Papillon did attack, Adrien would have to use the coccinelle miraculous, he wouldn't be able to purify the akuma without it. But would he be able to hold his own with such little experience acting as Ladybug?

They had no experience with each other's powers.

There have been many a time in which Chat Noir's abilities were indispensable to her. What would she do without them should the situation arise?

 _You could learn how to use the abilities yourself,_ a thought whispered in her ear.

That sounded like a good idea.

It was certainly more doable than attempting to use the Miraculous together.

That Friday after school Marinette went off on her own for what she told Alya and Nino was "Miraculous training." Alya and Nino didn't hide their concern at her mentioning it but Marinette reassured them as much as she could. She was going to practice using the Chat Noir Miraculous the rest of the evening, just to get a feeling for it.

She hopped from roof top to roof top as Ladybug, trying her best to be discreet and not be seen by too many people as she looked for an empty place for her practice. After some distance, she finally found a small abandoned warehouse in an old factory section of the city. There wasn't much to the area of the warehouse but it was enough to move around for combat.

She released her transformation, Tikki floating out of the earrings and Plagg floating out of her pocket and looking at her.

"Are you ready?" he asked simply and she spun the Chat's ring around her finger once more to assure that it was secure.

She took a deep breath to calm her excited nerves, "Yes" Tikki floated off to the side and landed on an empty nearby box to watch.

"Remember, Blah blah blah, you only have 5 minutes of transformation left after using the Cataclysm," Plagg half-heartedly reminded her, Marinette nodded in response.

Not really sure what to actually do with her hands, Marinette raised her arm slightly as she called out for Plagg to transform her.

She went through the normal motions for a transformation, the tingling sensations she had gotten use to for the Ladybug transformation were more intense for the Chat Noir transformation, but they went away as soon as it was done.

The first thing she noticed was the sound.

It was almost startling, how intense the sound was, as if she could hear everything around her. The ears atop her head twitched as a pigeon landed nearby. It was an odd sensation, and she felt that she almost couldn't focus with all of the sounds going on around her. Tikki's voice was what pulled her out of the hypnosis she went into whilst listening to everything around her.

"How do you feel?" Tikki asked with amusement.

Marinette had unwittingly closed her eyes at the transformation, when she knew it was done she slowly peeked an eye open. Her hands were in her foremost view and she saw the little claws sticking out of her black gloved hands. They clinked as she turned her hands in observation and tapped them together.

"I feel, odd," was all Marinette managed to say, Tikki laughed.

"Our Miraculous tend to have different sensations applied to them, particularly when stronger senses by our animal representations are accounted for," She explained.

"If I listen hard enough, I feel like I could hear a pin needle drop on the other side of town."

Tikki barely held in her chuckles.

Something shifted behind her and Marinette felt her body tense and she snapped around to look behind her. She instinctively reached for her yo-yo at her hip. Only to find it wasn't there, only a little bell, it made no sound as she touched it.

Chat's staff was typically on his back, right above his tail, she felt her tail slightly twitch at the thought of it. She reached around and found the staff in the same place, easily sliding it out of the holster, the staff extended to its natural size and she quickly looked up to where the sound was.

Two more pigeons calmly watched her from their perch, nothing else was there.

She let out a little sigh and straightened up from her fighting stance. She took a moment to observe the rest of her costume.

Her outfit's design was mild compared to Adrien's, no designs or cuffs at the hands and feet, no belt for her tail, it was simply attached at the back. Her shoulders were exposed, the gloves for her claws coming up to the middle of her upper arm. She was appreciative at the lack of a bell dangling around her neck, instead replaced by two smaller bells hanging by her hips like a false belt.

The tail would flick and swish as she thought about it, and she could feel the ears on her head move to follow certain sounds. It was peculiar having the extra appendages she didn't normally have as Ladybug.

She took a breath and figured she should actually try moving around, she looked at the staff in her hand, it shrunk at her thoughts and she slipped it back in its holding place. She turned around again and began running the length of the warehouse, her tail dragging behind her in a peculiar way, but it made her feel more balanced, like she couldn't be pushed over. She reached the end of the warehouse and leapt up, pushing off the wall to propel herself in the opposite direction.

She soared through the air of r a moment and landed with a roll, her tail and ears easily moving in or around with her movements. She did this a few more times, running to the end of the building and then launching herself off the walls. When she deemed it was enough, she reached around for the baton again.

Chat staff could stretch to incredible heights, she needed to-

At the thought, the staff extended, slamming into a small stack of boxes behind her and giving the nearby pigeons a start.

 _Shrink! Shrink!_ She hurriedly thought before the staff plow into the wall. It snapped back into its baton size.

Marinette gave a sigh; evidently she couldn't let her thoughts wander. She took a deep breath and held the staff out, giving the thought for it to stretch, _slowly_.

The staff did as she willed and stopped before hitting the wall when she made it stop. This was good. She was getting the hang of this.

For some time Marinette just practiced with the staff, stretching and shrinking it and practicing some moves and spinning it around. Spinning the staff was very different from spinning her yo-yo, it took more effort, but she got better with it as time passed. After much practice running around and using the abilities of the Chat miraculous, Marinette decided it was time to use the final move.

Putting away the staff, she took a deep breath and raised her hand above her head, giving out the call for the "Cataclysm" move. A black ball of energy that just felt like what "bad" would feel like in a physical form materialized before her hand as she clenched her fist around it. She brought her hand down and looked at the small dots of destruction slowly floating out of her hand. She had to be careful not to touch anything, and figure out what to destroy.

Looking around for a moment, it seemed that her only object to destroy was a box. A clench of her fist and Marinette launched herself at a box before her, careful not to let her hand brush against anything else in the vicinity. In the last stride she launched her hand before her and slammed it into the box. She watched as it disintegrated into rust-like chunks and fall to the ground. A weight that she hadn't realized was there had lifted off her shoulders at the action, she no longer felt a swirl of chaos. Was that the cataclysm?

The Chat Miraculous beeped, keeping her from dwelling on the thought for too long and indicating that her transformation had only a few minutes left before it ran out. She released her transformation and Plagg came swirling out of the ring.

Tikki came flying over to the two of them, "You two did quite well!" She cheered, landing on Marinette's shoulder.

"That means I can have some cheese now, yes?" Plagg asked, landing on Marinette's other shoulder.

"We, need to clean up the mess we made, then we'll head home and you can get some cheese," Marinette answered, Plagg didn't hide his groan.

Both Tikki and Marinette laughed before Marinette transformed, Plagg disappearing into the transformation.

The familiar feeling of being Ladybug was welcome, and she took a moment for feel comfortable in the costume.

Ladybug was about to call for the mysterious disappearing light when it occurred to her that she had never done so without using a lucky charm. She didn't even have an object to throw into the air. Unsure of what else to do, she grabbed her yo-yo and zipped it in the air, calling out for the mysterious disappearing light.

It worked, and Ladybug watched as the red blur cleaned up the box she destroyed with her cataclysm and the bother boxes she knocked over with the staff. It was as if she had never been there. Her miraculous didn't beep after the ability, good, she needed to head home and rest.

* * *

A/N: That's all for the chapter. Also whoops I'm late, just as I predicted. Finals had killed me, and now attempting to find a summer job is killing me. I drew a pic of Marinette as Chat Noir if ya want a visual. It's on the AO3 version of this story in this chapter.

Anyways, chapters are now going to update every 3 Fridays 'cause whoo-golly, evidently I can't keep up.

Thanks loves, please leave a review, I'm thirsty.


	9. Release

Chapter 9: Release

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated, I've been a depressed sack of shit as of recent and busy as hell with work and summer classes. By the time I actually got a free weekend to write this chapter, we were in the middle of the MLB Blackout.

But, here it is:

Just as Adrien has said, he had been released from the hospital that Sunday afternoon. As of now, he was to stay at home and had no idea when he would be able to return to school.

Nino was at the Agreste residence now, having taken it upon himself to visit Adrien as soon as possible. Nino was the only one of them to go, all three knowing that he had the best chance for getting through to Adrien's father. To be safe, Nino talked to their teacher and was able to use the excuse of bringing school work that Adrien had missed while in the hospital and explaining it to him.

Alya and Marinette hung out in Marinette's room, eating, watching a movie on her computer, and barely working on the homework they had laid out between them. Alya sat behind Marinette on the floor, quietly watching the movie whilst playing with Marinette's hair. She could feel Alya fingers brush through her locks and heard the quiet snap of an elastic band, Alya would pull her hair together, tie it up, huff, take it out, and do it all over again. There was something soothing about the mundane motions, reminding Marinette of the few times she and Alya would have sleepovers with just the two of them, each doing fun things with each other's hair and even doing mud masks together. It had been a few months since they had actually took the time to have fun like that together. Marinette would have to plan something in the coming weeks if she could.

After a few minutes Alya let out a satisfied noise and quietly said "There, done." Marinette instinctively felt her hands go up to her hair, curious as to what Alya put it into. Something told her that she already knew.

Alya grabbed a hand mirror off of Marinette's desk, bringing it to over to where Marinette sat. She held the mirror in front of Marinette for her to see.

"Tah-dah!"

Ponytails, like she always wore. Marinette found herself smiling. It had been a couple of weeks since she actually put up her hair, and the familiar pressure on her scalp was welcome.

"Thank you," Marinette said softly, directing her smile to Alya.

"You look nice with your hair like this," Alya said, returning the smile, she settled down next to Marinette again, "Though I don't know how you ever did this every day, getting those ponytails even is impossible!"

Marinette laughed, leaning on Alya, "I've had plenty of practice."

Alya's phone chimed with a text. She pulled it over to her, looking at the message in her lap, Marinette peeked over to see the message from Nino.

"Okay the old man kicked me out I'm heading over to you guys." It read.

Alya quickly typed out that they were at Marinette's and to let himself in.

10 or so minutes passed before Nino arrived at the house, just as the movie was reaching the climax, nobody paid it any attention as Nino happily shared what happened during his visit with Adrien. Despite claiming to go to Adrien's for homework all Nino and Adrien did was chat and fart around. Talking over phones just wasn't enough for them.

Marinette was elated to see Nino excitedly talking about seeing Adrien, Alya leaning on him and listening to everything he said. He was happy, happy that Adrien was well, and happy that Adrien was getting better. Marinette was happy too, if not still worried.

She didn't attempt to visit Adrien as Ladybug or Marinette, it was too much risk, trying to see him at his home, and Nino expressed that it was difficult enough just for him to get into the house. Between having to keep the reporters watching over the mansion from swamping him, and Adrien's father insisting that Nino had no reason to be there and should leave them alone, he almost couldn't get through the front gate.

Marinette was content not seeing Adrien now, instead just listening to whatever update's Nino would be able to give her and continuing to message Adrien until he could return to school.

Soon hopefully, but Nino mentioned Adrien's concern that his father would attempt to pull him out of public school permanently after the whole fiasco.

"It wouldn't be surprising," Nino sighed at the thought, "The stick wedged up his father's ass was content with keeping Adrien out of public school before, and after something like this... it's entirely possible that his father would try to keep him from going outside as much as possible."

Nino looked at Marinette, she felt his worried gaze concentrated on her.

"He's hoping for his miraculous back soon, to give his some more freedom," Marinette felt her heart race slightly at the mention of it, "Not now, obviously, but when he's better, able to move around without losing his breath every few minutes."

Marinette simply nodded in response, aware that the topic will be a difficult one to discuss in the future with her reluctance. She didn't want to give the Miraculous back to Adrien, for obvious reasons. She tried to convince herself that she would be more willing when the time came, very aware of how Plagg pressed against her blazer in attempt to hear what Nino had to say about Adrien. He wanted to return to Adrien's side, she was all too aware of that. Tikki informed Marinette that he's been trying to be understanding and patient with the current situation, but regardless, he remains restless.

Marinette wished she could freeze the Superhero part of her life, just deal with the human part, Adrien getting out of the hospital, getting her school work done, being with her friends. She didn't want to deal with Papillon right now; she didn't want to deal with this issue of giving back the Miraculous back and possibly risking Adrien getting hurt like that again.

She mentally cursed and praised the silence from Papillon.

At some unknown point, Nino had stopped talking, instead calmly typing away at his phone, Marinette had barely listened to the latter part of he said. Alya looked ready to fall asleep from where she leaned on Nino, Marinette took a breath. She wanted the moment to last forever, her superhero life did feel frozen, she could ignore it in this moment.

When the time came for Nino and Alya to head home, Marinette bid them a warm farewell, holding onto them as long as she could before they left. Plagg and Tikki flew out of their hiding places as Marinette's phone let out a little chime, it was Adrien. She happily curled up on her bed with her phone, asking Adrien about his visit with Nino knowing that he was just as eager to see Nino as Nino was to see him.

Adrien seemed like he was doing well from his messages. He didn't mention anything was wrong other than some dull pain and general loneliness at not being able to see anyone throughout the week, but he always played it off like it was a minor inconvenience.

So when he suddenly called her in the middle of the night as opposed to texting her like he always did, she reasonably felt a rush of panic.

With a speed even she didn't know she possessed, Marinette grabbed her phone and answered the call immediately.

"Hello? Adrien? Is everything alright?" She asked in rush of words.

She heard some breathing and some shuffling on the other side of the phone.

"Can,-sniff- can you come over please?" She heard Adrien ask through wobbly words, as is he could barely talk.

"Adrien? Are you okay? What's wrong? What's going on?" She almost yelled and she hopped around to get at least partially dressed. Luckily her parents didn't wake but Tikki and Plagg both slowly awoke and watched her in concern.

"No-nothing's wrong. Just, please come over. I need to be with someone right now, please," He said softly, the shake in his words never going away, his breathing never slowing.

"It's okay Adrien, I'll be right over," She reassured him, looking to Tikki to let her know that they were going to transform, "Where are you right now?"

"I'm at home," he answered, Marinette felt her nerves calm, if only a little bit, "In my room. Please come soon."

She reaffirmed that she would be there as soon as she could before hanging up and calling for Tikki to transform her. Plagg brought over the plain cloth bag, Ladybug almost told him to stay here, that it could be too dangerous for him to come along if someone was trying to get the Miraculous from Adrien. When she saw the look of concern on Plagg's face though, she immediately threw away the thought, tying the bag around her hips and putting her phone away in the bag as well.

She quickly snuck onto her balcony and swung off to Adrien's house in the dim moonlight.

After only a minute, Ladybug landed on the roof of a building across the street from the Agreste residence. A quick look over revealed only one reporter remained at the front gate, though they were barely awake in this late hour. Ladybug swung over to the window sill of Adrien's room and landed silently. She peered into his room and saw Adrien, dark and curled into the couch in front of his TV, the device remained off.

With her guard raised, Ladybug cautiously entered the bedroom.

She could barely see in the light of the moon, but she was slowly able to make out Adrien, looking at her with tear streaked eyes. Ladybug rushed over to him to see if he was hurt.

"Ladybug," he whispered, a tiny smile gracing his lips.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, "Adrien what's wrong?"

"I…. I don't know, I just, I can't sleep. Every-everything feels terrible and I don't know why," Adrien mumbled out, turning his head away in shame and running his hand wildly over his face and through his messy hair, "I just… I needed someone here with me, I'm-I'm sorry for making you worry."

Seeing Adrien like this, almost reduced to a puddle, it was heartbreaking. Ladybug slowly ran her hand over his arm in a feeble attempt to get him to calm down.

"So, you're not in any danger? No one's trying to hurt you?" Ladybug asked softly.

"N-no," Adrien said, still not looking at her, more shame gracing his features, "I'm sorry I'm being a child but I… I just feel, bad."

Ladybug continued to rub his arm whilst she let out a sigh of relief, no one was attacking him like she thought, that was good, "I'm glad you're safe Adrien."

Plagg slowly floated out of the bag and over to Adrien's cheek, nuzzling him in greeting. Adrien gently cupped Plagg in his hands and brought him to his chest.

"I'm sorry for bringing you all the way over here in a panic, I… I just, can't sleep, and I didn't want to be alone," Adrien finally brought himself to look at her, a huge upwell of sadness flowing through his eyes.

"Shhh, it's okay Adrien, we're here for you," Marinette whispered placing her forehead against his.

"Thank you."

She brought her hand up to his head, calmly brushing his hair out of his face, "Take a deep breath Adrien."

He did, releasing it shakily but taking in another at a slower pace, it came out smoother. When he looked calm enough to talk again he shuffled deeper into the couch, making room.

"Can… can you stay here? At least until I go to sleep?" He finally asked, "I don't want you to leave."

She hesitated for a moment, afraid of being here for too long, of falling asleep herself and getting caught by Adrien's father. All of her hesitation melted away when she saw the look he gave her.

"Of course," She said, crawling onto the couch with him. Plagg floated over to his neck while Ladybug curled up close to Adrien and wrapped her arms around him. She felt him relax in her embrace and wrap his arms around her in return. One hand still ran through his hair while the other just held him lightly, her lips brushing against his forehead. Ladybug took deep breaths, feeling how Adrien gradually made himself match her breathing.

Neither of them said anything, simply wrapped up together and relaxing themselves. Ladybug dug her phone out of the pouch on her hip and set her alarm to an ungodly early hour in case she too fell asleep. She would leave once Adrien would reach a stable sleeping point, no one would have to know she was there but them.

She put the phone away and draped her arm over Adrien again, she let her mind wander.

She wasn't expecting to find Adrien like this, and it was terrifying. He was a complete emotional wreck, and she couldn't help but worry that Adrien had other times that he was like this whilst in the hospital, or even earlier this week. It seemed likely, and Ladybug wanted to ask him now if this had happened before, but she kept her mouth shut, letting Adrien relax his mind, letting him drift off to sleep. She could ask him about it later, and maybe with Alya and Nino there too, she was still in no position to emotionally console Adrien or anybody for that matter.

An hour passed before Ladybug determined that Adrien had fallen asleep completely. She wasn't almost asleep herself, but managed to stay awake. In an agonizingly slow motion so as to not wake Adrien up, she pulled herself out from his grasp. She stood and scooped the now sleeping Plagg into the bag, hoping he wouldn't be jarred awake by her motions. Adrien curled into himself without the warmth of Ladybug next to her, she walked over to his bed, dragging off one of the heavier blankets and draping it over him. He sighed and curled into to material, putting a smile on Ladybug's face at how content he looked.

After one last look over to see that everything was okay, Ladybug climbed silently out of his window and into the night, no one around to see her.

End of Part 1

A/N: After a traumatic experience, many experience symptoms of depression, I should fucking know.

Alright nerds gear up for part two, everything's through Adrien's perspective and the emotional rollercoaster doesn't fucking stop.


	10. The Moon's Recollection

Chapter 10: The Moon's Recollection

Adrien stood before the mirror in his room looking over himself.

Well looking over his scar specifically.

Over the past two weeks the stab wound in Adrien's side had healed, the stitches had dissolved like they were supposed to and the nurses said it was mending well, exceptionally well. He had heard the comments from the nurses, "faster than any typical person with a similar wound" "a smaller scar then most" they found it fascinating and frightening how fast Adrien had healed. He could only think it was from his Miraculous, something with how he bonded with Plagg so many times over the past couple of years. Maybe some of Plagg was infused with Adrien since he was transformed when stabbed; he came up with a multitude of reasons but couldn't be quite sure. The nurses agreed that it must have been something from his Miraculous, but that only made them more concerned in how the Miraculous actually worked.

Never the less Adrien's stab wound had healed into a scar with only slight discoloration still remaining around it. _With something like this I won't have to do swimsuit modeling,_ Adrien thought with a laugh. That was a relief, he could do without having to get oiled up, spray tanned, and shaved every summer season.

Adrien brought his hand up to the scar and lightly traced a finger over the bump out of curiosity. His stomach flexed in and he let out a light laugh in reaction before ripping his hand away and shoving down his shirt. His scar was ticklish, just perfect.

Adrien went over to his school bag to check that everything was there, it was his first day back to school since the incident and he was excited. It had taken an incredible amount of convincing on Adrien's part for his father to finally relent and allow for him to return to public school.

Adrien getting hurt had thrown his father into a complete and utter panic, which would have been fine and understandable if it didn't come with the undeniable action of Adrien's father cutting him off from the outside in a worried attempt to protect him from anything that came their way. During that first week he was awake Adrien honestly didn't think he would have a moment to himself with how his father hovered around.

Even with his father being around all the time, they only talked for brief moments, and it was never about being Chat Noir. His father made it very clear that he despised Ladybug. It made sense, he couldn't really blame Chat Noir for what happened, but he could easily blame Ladybug for it. In turn he seemed to treat Adrien and Chat as two separate people, Chat and Ladybug were foolishly trying to go about being heroes and Adrien was someone else that got hurt because of them. During their talks he could tell that his father was trying to be nicer, to be more conversational, but the man couldn't help being his typical secluded self.

Yes, Adrien was certainly glad to get out of the house and go back to school, to see all his friends, and be somewhat normal for once. However there was the matter of Ladybug, he needed to find some time to talk to Marinette in private and see if he could get his Miraculous back. He felt more than ready to be Chat Noir again, and despite Plagg being a royal pain in his ass 90% of the time, Adrien could admit that he actually missed the kwami's lackadaisical attitude and silly comments to everyday things. Adrien made sure to grab a section of cheese from his now very low stock and store it in his bag for when he would get to see Plagg again.

Adrien passed through the halls of his house slowly and quietly, making sure to listen should his father try to approach him last minute and keep in from attending class. He was very careful passing his father's office and barely caught the sound of Gabriel talking to someone else, against his better judgement, Adrien slowed to listen to the conversation.

"Why?" Adrien heard his father ask, almost as if he was bored with the conversation.

"You've been avoiding this long enough," the other, barely familiar, voice replied, clearly irritated with Gabriel.

"I'm not ready," Gabriel said.

"You've been "not ready" for a bit longer than necessary," The other growled, they sounded as if they were in the room with him, but Adrien knew this was an over-the-phone conversation as no one Gabriel worked with was allowed in his house aside from Nathalie, "If we don't make a move now, our window of opportunity will have closed and you'll be back in the same conundrum you have been lamenting about this entire time."

There was a pause from his father, and Adrien almost left having lost interest in the conversation about work, and what was obviously about Gabriel's lack of work since Adrien's injury, but the way his father said his next words made Adrien linger.

"I know," his father said with a defeated sigh.

Adrien had known his father to never show any emotions to his coworkers, or anyone for the matter, and certainly not what would be considered a "weak" emotion like he just did. Who was his father talking to? Adrien leaned in closer to try to hear more of the conversation but Nathalie startled him from where he stood, informing him that it was time for them to head to school lest they be late. He looked to the door once more before scrambling down to Nathalie so they could head to school.

The car slowly pulled out from the gates of the Agreste residence and pulled around to pass the front, a small crowd of reporters was eagerly waiting for them and frantically took pictures as they passed. The windows of the car remained closed but Adrien made an effort to smile and show everyone that he was doing well.

The familiarity of driving to school was welcome, is brought back a feeling of being normal, Just an everyday drive to school, like everyone else. He was brought out of the comforting lull when they pulled up to the front of the school and found another, slightly bigger, group of reporters waiting for their arrival. Nathalie and the Gorilla acted as a shield for Adrien as they escorted him to the front of the school when the reporters were not legally allowed to cross into. All the while they shouted questions at him, about his condition, about how he was feeling returning to school, about his father even. Adrien ignored them as he was too eager to head to his class.

Everyone in the hallways happily greeted him and voiced their joy at seeing him back and well, he gave many thanks in return before approaching his classroom door. For some reason a nervous flutter went through his stomach before he entered, curious about seeing everyone all at once, about how they would all react to seeing him.

He pushed open to door to see just about everyone was already in class and at their seats, talking casually amongst each other as if it was a day like any other. They all stopped and looked at him when he entered, there was a brief weight to the air. Before anyone could say anything or move, Chloé jumped up from her seat and nearly sprinted at him and she pulled him in for a hug. She gave him a tight squeeze before quickly loosening her grip, almost in a panic at realizing that she might hurt him, and shooting off in a tangent (?).

"Adrien! I'm so glad you're back. It's been terrible without you here! And not getting to see you for so long, oh my goodness I'm so happy to see you again!" She said in an excited swirl of words, hugging him again.

"I'm happy to see you too. And I'm happy to be back," Adrien said, looking up at everyone cheerful faces.

Chloé pulled away and Nino came forward to give Adrien a hug as well. He was much gentler, knowing how Adrien was beforehand when something like a hug could cause him a small pinch of pain. They shared a brief moment of joy before Nino pulled away and Adrien noticed the line his classmates had begun to form. They each gave him and hug and voiced their happiness at seeing Adrien again one by one until only Marinette remained. She slowly walked up to him and gave her own hug, being gentle like Nino before pulling away and welcoming him back.

Adrien almost wanted to kiss her right there and then and thank her for all her help and being there with him as much as she could, but he contained himself, knowing that no one knew about any of that, and no one would get to know either. Their teacher entered the class, and gave a very warm welcome back Adrien before asking that everyone take their seats for class to start.

Class had gone by well, thanks to Nino periodically coming over to his house to drop off homework over the past two weeks, Adrien wasn't too far behind in the lessons. Adrien wanted to spend his time with Nino, Marinette, Alya when lunch came around, but Chloé insisted that they spend the time together. Adrien and the other relented seeing as Chloé hadn't been able to see Adrien at all during his leave. He wanted to talk with Marinette while he had a chance, ask her for his Miraculous while he was here at school and could have a moment to himself, but he would have to wait until tomorrow.

Lunch with Chloé was different than the times before, typically Chloé would take it upon herself to continually talk about nothing in particular to fill the air, to hear the sound of her own voice. However most of the conversation was actually spent with Adrien talking, much to his and Sabrina's surprise. Chloé was asking him a load of questions, and actually listening to everything he said, actually having a proper conversation with him, it was a very pleasant surprise.

The day had gone by well, it was odd for Adrien not having any afterschool activities for once, all of them had been canceled by his father in worry and, aside from his Chinese lesson tomorrow, had yet to be called up again. He spent the evening to himself, trying to catch up with his school work as much as he could before the next day.

* * *

That morning Adrien had awoke eager to go to school again, and certain that he would have his Miraculous back by the end of the day. He had lunch with Marinette, Nino and Alya, they were settled in a quiet area on a bench next to the Seine, now would be a good place for Adrien to ask for his Miraculous. The panic that briefly crossed Marinette's face when he asked, however, made his stomach twist.

"Are… are you sure you're ready?" She asked slowly, barely able to keep eye contact with him.

"Of course I am," He replied with false confidence, hiding his worry that Marinette might not be as complacent as he would have liked.

"Adrien, just… just because you're here at school doesn't mean you're well enough to have your Miraculous back," Marinette said.

"Having my Miraculous back doesn't necessarily mean using it," He tried to reassure her, "Papillon hasn't made a move in a long time, we probably wouldn't have to fight an akuma."

"But that doesn't mean he can't strike at any moment now," Marinette quickly retorted.

Adrien briefly glanced between his friends, feeling his chest drop when he saw Nino agreeing with Marinette.

"And what if there is an akuma?" Alya asked, bringing everyone's attention to her, "Are you going to fight it alone? Marinette I have confidence in your abilities but I don't think it's best for you to fight anything on your own."

Adrien smiled at Alya, happy to see that she was supporting his case.

"I don't want to fight on my own, but Adrien, I don't want you to exhaust yourself either. You still need time to rest, if you're not at your full health than the risk of you getting hurt again is very high!" Marinette continued.

He wanted to feel some kind of comfort for her concern, but the fact that it was preventing him from getting the one thing he wanted was irritating him, why the hell wasn't she relenting?

"Then we take some time to practice one on one, get back into the typical maneuvers for a fight," Adrien offered, his fist clenching as he felt more and more desperate.

"No, Adrie-"

"Oh come on Marinette," Alya chimed in again, trying to alleviate the tension rising between them, "Surely you can do a bit practice between you two to see if he's up to par?"

"It would just be safer if we wait just a little bit longer before you have to protect the Miraculous again," Marinette said.

That hit a nerve Adrien didn't even know was there, "Are you saying I'm incapable of protecting my own miraculous?!" He shouted.

Marinette tensed while Adrien glared at her, Alya and Nino frantically looking around to see if anyone heard Adrien's outburst.

"N-no I just-" Marinette tried to get a word out but instead sputtered and launched out of her seat to run off.

Nino and Alya frantically glanced between each of them before Nino got up to chase after Marinette, he paused briefly to turn back to Alya and Adrien, "We just don't want to see you get hurt again," He said weakly before continuing after Marinette.

The flame of anger burning within Adrien was extinguished as soon as it had been ignited after hearing that. He had gone too far.

Alya put a hand on his shoulder in comfort as he slumped against the bench.

"I know she's being stubborn now, but just give her a bit more time to get used to it," She offered.

"I know, I know, I just-" He honestly wanted to see Plagg again, to hear his voice and give whatever profound unhelpful advice he would offer, but Marinette had a distinct advantage in that they have yet to tell Alya or Nino about the existence of their kwamis. Adrien knew it was important to at least hide their existence from everyone, yet in that moment between the four of them Adrien genuinely wanted to make a low blow and expose the kwamis just to have someone else on his side. Surely Plagg would side with him, though, was Plagg even with Marinette to the moment? He didn't know, "My head hurts," Adrien mumbled through to jumble of his thoughts.

"You wanna head to my house and get some medicine?" Alya asked.

"Nah, I'll be fine, let's go get some ice cream and head back to school," He said slowly gathering his trash and standing up.

"Alright," Alya offered a smile while gathering her own trash, it was good to at least have someone on his side.

They headed an ice cream shop in relative silence, happily greeting the excited shop owners and briefly chatting about how Adrien has been as of recent before taking the long walk back to school with their cones in hand.

"So… wanna see my scar?" Adrien offered, not sure why but wanting to talk about something, anything.

"Depends is it all gnarly and oozing of puss?" Alya asked offhandedly.

"Nah, it's healed up rather nicely," He answered licking his cone.

"Yeah, dude show me," She said with a smile.

Adrien lifted his shirt partially with his free hand to show the scar on his side.

"Wow, I was expecting it to be a bit worse," She said peering down at it.

"Yeah it's really not that bad, I feel like Marinette and Nino think I'm gonna reopen the wound somehow," Adrien said with a roll of his eyes.

"Can I touch it?" She wondered aloud.

"Nooo," Adrien quickly replied, remembering how ticklish the area was from before. He almost shoved his shirt back down when he noticed Alya's free hand twitch from her side.

"…Can I take a picture?" Alya cautiously asked after a few moments of looking it over.

"Yeah, oh yeah and you can post it to the Ladyblog," Adrien said with almost a bit of excitement as Alya pulled out her phone, "Put a caption like 'Chat Noir's kick ass new scar' or something just as cool."

Alya laughed as she backed up and positioned her phone for the picture, "Because scars are cool?"

"Because scars are cool," Adrien nodded repeated with emphasis.

"Smile," She said as Adrien held up his ice cream and did so.

* * *

Adrien sat on his bed, no longer able to focus of his homework at this point. He instead found his mind rolling over every possible way he could convince Marinette to give him his Miraculous back and how she might respond. His hand hovered over his phone for long periods of time as he considered every direction the conversation, or more so argument, could go. No matter how he went about it he always managed to lose to Marinette purely on the account that she was being irrational and would give up on that.

He thought of texting Nino, but with the way he acted after Adrien's outburst made him reconsider. It was likely that Nino was still on Marinette's side and Adrien didn't want to argue with him at all.

Minutes passed in which Adrien did nothing, he considered going back to working on his homework, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get anything done. Instead he got up and began to prepare himself for bed, some sleep would do him good. He was sluggish as he changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. He took the last of his medicine remaining, the lesser pain medication. He didn't technically need it anymore at this point, he wasn't feeling any pain, but the nurses recommended that he continue taking it until he ran out just to be sure. As he walked out of his bathroom Adrien heard a light knock on his door.

He opened it to find his father waiting for him.

"Hello Adrien, how-" His father stopped and looked him over, "You're already in your pajama's?"

"Uh yeah," Adrien answered, bringing a hand to his neck, "Today was a rather long day, so I figured I'd hit the hay early,"

His father was quiet for a moment, pursing his lips in an ever-so-subtle way before speaking again, "You know if school is too much for you now you don't have to continue going."

 _Shit_ , Adrien thought, really hoping this conversation would come up again.

"No,no! School's fine! I want to keep going, I'll just take a couple of days before I'm used to

spending my time there again," He quickly reassured his father's concerned look, "This is just a readjustment period."

His father let out a small sigh, "If you insist," he mumbled, Adrien felt himself relax with this.

"I'm sure."

"Then get your rest, you'll need it," His father said before pulling Adrien into a light hug.

There it was again, Adrien still wasn't quite used to this hugs he and his father had been sharing as of recent no matter how light or how short. He couldn't say he didn't appreciate them, getting physical affection from his father was much better than him trying to talk to Adrien, he just wasn't used to them.

Not a few seconds passed before his father released him and left. Adrien crawled into bed, pulling his blankets up to his nose hoping the day would just end.

Instead his phone decided to chime right then reminding him of its presence and of the fact that he needed to plug it in for the night. He shuffled around without getting out of the blankets to grab his phone, pulling it up to his face to check the message.

It was from Marinette.

Adrien found himself sitting forward to unlock his phone and read the message.

"Meet me behind the school tomorrow morning before class" Was all it said.

A wild flutter of hope went through Adrien when he read it. It was quickly whirled away though, _what could that mean?_ He wanted to ask for an explanation, for some more details, but refrained in case he say something wrong and she decided against it. He typed back a confirmation that he would be there and plugged his phone in for the night. Adrien's mind was once again spinning with questions, wondering what could happen with the meeting, what Marinette planned for him.

He hoped she would give him his Miraculous back, that he would see Plagg again.

He shoved his thoughts away in an attempt to go to sleep, _the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner morning will come._

* * *

A/N: Hey now we're in Adrien's perspective, this is fun. Now that I'm back at my work study job I'll get into the habit of writing more frequently again, as the only time I could seem to bring myself to write was when I was avoiding my homework. Haha.

I'll try to keep updates consistent at every 3 weeks on Fridays. I'm hoping to finish this story before season 2 is released.


	11. Dance

Chapter 11: Dance

A/N: Holy shit have you guys seen the trailer for season 2?AHHHHHH!

Adrien had come to school early to see Marinette, hoping she would be would be there early as well considering how late she normally was to class. He had asked his chauffer if he could be dropped off behind the school, "to avoid the reporters" he reasoned. Nathalie was cautious at first, but eventually relented.

He stepped out of the car and waited for it to drive away before he went up to the school, no one was behind the building which was good. Marinette wasn't there just yet so Adrien went to wait beneath a low hanging tree. A few minutes passed until he heard a flash behind him and saw Marinette running up to his spot, she looked tense.

Adrien tried to appear calm, to make it seem like yesterday didn't happen the way it did. Like he wasn't still angry, thought he was, just a little bit. He waited for her to speak first.

She took a deep breath before saying anything.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," She said.

He nodded in response, hoping she had more to say.

"I was being irrational. I was nervous, and worried about you, but I was also holding you back. I know that you can take care of yourself but I was just so scared that you would get hurt again," She continued, "It wasn't right of me to keep you from your Miraculous, I was reminded of that last night."

"By Nino?" He asked, it seemed like Nino was in the same boat as Marinette, did he change his mind?

"No, by Plagg," She said with a smile as the mentioned kwami floated out of her purse.

"Plagg!" Adrien excitedly greeted him. Plagg responded by rubbing up against Adrien's cheek in affection, he was so glad to see him.

"He can be very convincing when he wants to be," Marinette said with a smile as she watched them, "And the other piece too."

Marinette reached her hands up but Adrien didn't see the ring on them, where was it? He watched as she reached behind her head and pulled a string off her neck, dangling at the end was his Miraculous. He bowed his head as she reached over it to put the makeshift necklace around his neck.

It hung low on him, the ring resting over his heart. Marinette put her hand on his chest, over the ring, and looked intensely into his eyes.

"No one is to know that you have to back again, don't let anyone see that you're wearing it," She said, her voice low and serious, "As far as the public is aware, Ladybug still has your Miraculous."

Adrien nodded as she took her hand off his chest, that meant no transforming either, Chat Noir was not to be seen. He slipped the ring under his shirt so no one would see it. It was back with him.

There was a pause between them as Adrien thought over what he wanted to say.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," He finally mumbled, "I didn't mean to, and I didn't want to upset you."

"It's okay, I understand," She let a small smile grace her lips, "Lets got to class."

He took her offered hand as they snuck around the school to the front, careful not to let any of the reporters spot them, in class they let go and greeted Alya and Nino warmly.

* * *

Adrien spent his lunch with Marinette, Alya, and Nino, the air between them more pleasant than it had been left at yesterday.

"I'm guessing that you two have made up from yesterday?" Alya asked.

"Yes, I gave Adrien his Miraculous back," Marinette confirmed.

It hurt Adrien to see how Nino pursed his lips but said nothing, he still disagreed with the decision. But it didn't matter, Adrien had Plagg and the Miraculous back, Nino couldn't change that.

"So are you two going to go off and do some "special Miraculous training"?" Alya suddenly asked, everyone looked at her.

"W-what?" Marinette asked incredulously.

"Wow, that came out much more lewd than I meant it to be," Alya let out a laugh before explaining herself, "What I mean is, you mentioned taking some time to train and get Adrien used to being Chat Noir again, will you be doing that? And doing whatever special "Miraculous training" you had been doing before Marinette."

Adrien looked at Marinette in curiosity, she had been doing some sort of training while he was out? What could that possibly mean? Marinette shared a look with him that said they would talk about it later when they were alone.

"We likely will," Marinette answered, "Not too much, but just something to start with."

Adrien smiled, he was more than content with that, spending some time as Chat Noir would be good. He only needed to find a way to head off without his father being concerned with where he was.

"When?" He finally asked after thinking over it for a bit, "It'll be harder for me to sneak out past my dad, especially since, well since he knows. He's be monitoring where I go and when I leave and everything."

Everyone thought about it between bites.

"You, you could say that you're going to hang out with me at my place? And then head off with Marinette?" Nino finally offered, there was a reluctance in his voice, like he didn't want to help Adrien out with this.

"I thought of that, but it's hard enough just to get you to hang out with me at _my_ house, it's unlikely that he'll let me out to see you," Adrien replied.

"It's worth a shot, and I mean we don't really have anything else," Alya said looking between everyone.

Nobody offered any other ideas and Adrien sighed, "I suppose I could try," he said thinking of the best way to phrase his question in order for his father to most likely say yes.

"Tomorrow?" Marinette offered.

"Tomorrow," Adrien answered.

* * *

Nino went with Adrien the next day as extra support in asking his father if they could "hang out and do homework and Nino's house". Adrien had told Nathalie that he would walk home with Nino, but he knew that she and the Gorilla were following them from a distance to make sure that they made it there in one piece. That was fine, he was glad to have a moment with Nino alone.

Even if the walk was tense with their silence.

Eventually Nino reached out and grabbed Adrien's hand, stopping him where he was.

"Adrien are you sure you're ready?" He asked.

Adrien's shoulders slumped as he let out a small sigh of irritation, of course this would come up again.

"Yes of course I'm sure," He said turning around and letting a relaxed smile on his face to show Nino that he was in fact ready, "It's not going to be anything too big, just some light sparring and getting used to being Chat Noir again."

"I know, I know," Nino sighed, squeezing Adrien's hand, "But… you seem, rather unaffected by what happened."

Adrien raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?" He asked in genuine curiosity.

Nino rubbed his neck and looked away for a moment, trying to think of what to say, "What I mean is…" He started slowly, Adrien watched him as he did so, "Well, Marinette was rather torn up about just seeing you get hurt, we all were, but she was having nightmares about it, when she had to carry you to the ER. And, well, you were the one who was actually stabbed. I guess, are you ready, like are you okay, psychologically?"

Adrien paused mulling over the thought, he hadn't told Nino about the night he broke down and called Marinette two weeks ago, mostly because he felt childish afterwards and didn't want anyone to know out of embarrassment. He had guessed it was the medication that made him completely break down. Aside from that, he really hadn't had any issues except for a feeling of general loneliness.

He couldn't really remember what had happened during the event was the issue. He remembered a shock of pain and his transformation releasing and losing feeling and someone screaming, but everything following that was a huge blur. Likely the shock setting in, he guessed. Adrien knew there was a video that Alya caught, of him getting stabbed, the entire thing recorded for the world to see, but he didn't watch it. He didn't _want_ to watch it, there was something surreal about seeing yourself get hurt in such a way.

Adrien shook his head, "I feel fine. I mean I don't really remember anything, so, what can I be messed up about that I don't remember?" Adrien asked with a weak smile, he really did feel fine, "I'm okay Nino, in fact I've been better now that I've been able to get out of the house."

Nino still looked concerned but let a small smile onto his face, he pulled Adrien into a hug, and Adrien happily complied. He barely caught Nino mumble "I sure hope so," into his shoulder.

They stood like that for a bit, just reassuring that each was okay. Adrien gave one last squeeze that Nino returned before they let go of each other.

"Just make sure we actually have time to hang out once you and Marinette are done," Nino said with brighter smile as they continued in the direction that they were going.

"Of course I will, besides, I would never miss an opportunity to eat your parent's cooking," Adrien said with a dreamy look. Nino laughed and bumped against him.

They walked in a more comfortable silence before spotting the couple of reporters still hanging in front of Adrien's house, he was hoping they would all be gone by the end of today, but evidently he wasn't that lucky. Nathalie and the Gorilla pulled up next to where they stopped and opened the car door for them, they climbed inside and entered the house through the garage. Nathalie and the Gorilla waited for them in the car as they climbed out, knowing what they were going to ask Adrien's father and that it would likely either result in them driving both boys to Nino's home or just driving Nino home.

Nathalie had told Adrien that his father was available at the moment as she checked what must have been his schedule. Adrien voiced his appreciation at the information but it didn't help the nervous twist in his stomach.

Adrien and Nino walked side by side as they made their way the Gabriel's office, the door was open a crack but Adrien couldn't hear any other voices coming through the door, good. He knocked on the door and waited for his father's response.

"Come in," He said calmly.

Adrien shared a quick look with Nino before he pushed open the door.

"Bonjour Adrien," His father said with a small smile that quickly dropped into a frown when he saw Nino, "Bonjour Nino."

"Bonjour Monsieur Agreste," Nino said with a tight lipped formality that he reserved only for Adrien's father.

"Adrien I usually ask that you inform me beforehand if you are going to invite you friends over," Gabriel quickly ignored Nino's presence.

"I know this is a bit last minute, but it was kind of just a spur of the moment decision between us to hang out," Adrien's father stared at him unimpressed, it made him nervous, but he needed to ask, "I was actually wondering if I could go over to Nino's house this evening to study and have dinner."

He wasn't sure how but his father's frown got even deeper.

"Have dinner there? But we have a fine chef here, and you're both already here," His father replied smoothly, something Adrien and Nino had heard rather frequently in the early months of their friendship.

"My parents…" Nino finally spoke up, he tended to avoid doing so as he would often snap at Gabriel and make situations worse, but Adrien noted how he chose his words carefully, "My parents were hoping to see Adrien, it's been a while and they want to see that he's okay and have some time to catch up with him."

Adrien's father moved his lips to the side, knowing that what Nino was said was true, Nino's parents adored Adrien and treated him much like family, Adrien realized it had been a while since he had last seen them. While Gabriel didn't trust Nino to his entirety, he had met Nino's parents and voiced his trust in them. It was an agonizingly long minute that Gabriel thought over his decision before finally sighing and letting Adrien go.

"But make sure your home at 9 at the very latest," Gabriel quickly followed.

"Of course father, thank you very much!" Adrien responded before he and Nino went back to the car.

They drove to Nino's home and Adrien informed Nathalie that he would call when he was ready to come home and watched her and the Gorilla drive off. Nino and Adrien entered the front door of the apartment complex hallway where they couldn't be seen, Adrien pulled his phone out of his bag and sent a message to Marinette saying he would be at her place soon before handing the device to Nino, who looked at it oddly.

"Stars above know my dad wouldn't haven't even _thought_ about letting me out of the house if he didn't have a tracker in my phone," Adrien explained, Nino nodded in understanding.

"Do you know if anything else of yours might be tracked?" Nino asked.

Adrien stopped and thought about it, just to be safe, he gave his bag to Nino as well.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours," Adrien said pulling Nino into another hug. He returned the hug with a quiet wish to "stay safe" into Adrien's shoulder.

They let go and Nino headed down the hall while Adrien peeked just outside the door before slipping out and walking in the direction of Marinette's house as casually as he could. Plagg peeked out of his jacket and Adrien turned his attention to him.

"So are you going to tell me about Marinette's special "Miraculous training" was?" Adrien asked.

"No," Plagg said with a sly smile, "She'll tell you that herself."

Adrien sighed, he had spent much of last night talking with Plagg and catching up with him (and giving him lots of cheese). The topic of Marinette's special training had come up last night, but Plagg refused to explain what it was, purely to spite Adrien he was sure. Nevertheless, it was good to have the little pain in his butt back at his side.

He arrived at Marinette's bakery to find her waiting for him out front. She gave a wave in greeting and told him to follow her, he knew where they were going, Plagg had told him last night, but still he wondered how long it would take to get there without their using Miraculous. Adrien was about to ask about Marinette's special training when he saw a small red bug with bright blue eyes peek its head out from Marinette's jacket. He stared at it in awe, wondering what it was until he realized what it must have been.

"Is this your kwami?" He asked, they smiled at him.

"Oh, yeah I guess you two haven't actually met yet," Marinette said stopping and turning around, her kwami slid around to rest on her shoulder and look at Adrien, "Adrien, this is my Kwami, Tikki."

"A pleasure to meet you," Adrien greeted with a bow.

"And a pleasure to finally become formally aquatinted with you," They greeted back with a smile and a bow of their own.

"So polite and formal, nothing like you Plagg," Adrien teased as Marinette continued forward.

"Oh sure, she's polite now, but wait 'til you know her for a millennia," Plagg snorted from Adrien's shoulder.

"I don't know Plagg, I've known her for some time and I'd say she's prey nice," Marinette said as she walked, Adrien caught Tikki stick her tongue out at Plagg.

"A millennia," Plagg reemphasized.

After a minute more of walking and finding themselves in a secluded alleyway Marinette spun around to look at Adrien again. This wasn't an abandoned warehouse.

"Ready to be whisked away?" Marinette asked.

"What? Marinette what's going on?" Adrien asked back as Marinette pulled a black knit hat out of the tote bag she carried with her.

"Well, the fastest way for us to travel would be as Ladybug and Chat Noir," She began, reaching up to put the hat on Adrien's head, he didn't stop her, instead waiting to see what she was going to do, "But it's best if Chat Noir isn't seen, and Adrien can't be seen with Ladybug for the same reason," She shoved the hat on his head so that it covered his eyes.

"Marinette, what-" Adrien began to ask as he pulled the hat off his eyes but heard Marinette suddenly transform.

"So for now, you're just and unknown civilian that I'm taking home," Ladybug said with a smile.

Adrien glanced at his reflection in a puddle, if the hat was pulled down low enough to hide his hair he really couldn't be recognized. It could be anyone in jeans and a black windbreaker, Adrien usually refrained from wearing anything designer to purposefully spite his father.

"A fair point," He said pulling the hat down low above his eyes as Ladybug turned around and squatted down, "Wait I'm lost again."

"It's a piggyback, Adrien, hop on," She answered simply.

"Oh, wouldn't it be better if you whisked me away bridal style," Adrien said dreamily whilst climbing onto her back.

"I wouldn't be able to use my arms as well if I did that," She replied while adjusting him on her back and pulling out her yo-yo, "Hold on."

Adrien almost screamed as she launched her yo-yo out and began to swing up to the roof of a building, it was different from when he wasn't launching himself into the air wildly. He also felt more out of balance in not being transformed, he trusted Ladybug, yes, it was just different being carried by her as just a civilian.

After a few minutes of swinging around and running from rooftop to rooftop, Ladybug landed before the warehouse Plagg described. A flock of pigeons was disturbed and looked back at them as Ladybug lowered Adrien off her back. They entered and turned to each other.

"Alright, we'll just do some light movements and sparring for today," She said, nodding in silent confirmation that he could put on his Miraculous again.

Adrien couldn't help his smile as he pulled the ring out from under his shirt and slid it onto his finger, the string still around his neck. Adrien barely realized how small the ring was and how it quickly readjusted to fit his finger.

"You ready Plagg?" Adrien asked him excitedly.

Plagg nodded in response and Adrien called out for his transformation. The string disappeared with the transformation as he went through the motions feeling like himself again but better once he was done. Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo and spun it around with a look of "you ready?" before they sprang up and began to run around.

Being Chat Noir again felt wonderful. He had missed the ability to move with such power and speed, he had missed the familiar feeling of freedom that being Chat Noir had always brought, and he had missed working with his lady. They worked well together and he had missed it during the several weeks that he was out.

It was obvious when they had begun to spar that Ladybug was holding back, still afraid of hurting him. That was okay, as he found that he ran out of energy much faster than he typically would as Chat Noir, he couldn't quite bring himself to hit his hardest either, being too out of practice. A little less than an hour of straight practice and sparring and they stopped, taking a breath.

"I think this was a good start for today," Ladybug said with a smile.

Chat nodded back at her, sitting on the ground in the middle of the warehouse, a bit out of breath. He watched as she released her transformation to sit down with him, he did the same, letting his ring slide off his hand and dangle around his neck, and immediately felt even more tired as he became Adrien again, stars he shouldn't have done that. Marinette reached into her tote bag and pulled out a couple bottles of water, she handed one to him and he eagerly drank it down. He watched as she took her own gulp of water before pulling out some cheese for Plagg, a cookie for Tikki, and finally a Tupperware of sliced fruit from her tote bag.

"You are quite prepared," Adrien laughed, taking some of the offered fruit and sighing in relief as he bit down into the juicy morsel.

Marinette looked to the side in a shy manner as she took a bite of her own fruit, "I just wanted to make sure that you didn't get too worn out," She said offering him more fruit.

"And it is much appreciated," Adrien replied, taking more fruit as Marinette visibly relaxed.

They all four sat in silence eating until they were back up to par.

"So, what was the "special Miraculous training" that you were doing while I was out?" Adrien finally asked. He had forgotten before in his excitement to be Chat Noir again but now it was bothering him.

"I was practicing using the Chat Miraculous," She answered back simply, much too simply.

"Wait, wait, what? Why?" Adrien asked.

This time Marinette hesitated, "Well, when you were… out, I had thought over what would happen if Papillon would strike again. What I would do to fight against him, and somehow I got on the topic of what would happen if our roles were switched, if I was the one injured and you were on your own to possibly fight Papillon," She chose her words cautiously.

While he knew there was something she wasn't telling him, he was shocked by the thought of their positions being swapped. He never wanted what happened to him to happen to anyone else, especially not her. Adrien looked hard at Marinette, hoping she would explain further.

"And uh, even if it was only just an akuma attack, well you might have some trouble," She continued, "The only way you would be able to purify the akuma is through the Coccinelle Miraculous, and well, you- you and I- have had next to no experience working with each other's Miraculous. So I was practicing with the Chat Miraculous."

Adrien nodded, thinking over what she said. It made sense, he remembers the useless feeling when he first started acting as Chat Noir of learning that Ladybug was the only one to purify an akuma.

"So am I going to practice using the Coccinelle Miraculous?" Adrien asked.

"Not today, later. Today was just for you to get used to being Chat Noir again," She answered.

"Ok," It sounded exciting, getting to be Ladybug. He briefly wondered if his costume would look the same as hers or look similar to his costume as Chat, Adrien was about to ask but Marinette stood up and offered her hand to him.

"We should get going, this was a good start for today," She said as he took her hand and pulled him up.

"That's all? Are you sure?" Adrien whined.

"I know it may not seem like a lot, but it's only the first day, and you can't push yourself too hard on the first day," Marinette replied easily.

Adrien sighed at her sound logic, he really couldn't argue with the small ache in his side, unused to such a large amount of physical movement just yet. The few physical therapy sessions he had gone to had mostly been breathing exercises and light yoga stretches to get his abdomen used to moving again, nothing like this.

Marinette put the Tupperware and water bottles back into her bag and called for Tikki to transform her one last time. Adrien tucked his ring away in his shirt while Plagg flew into his pocket. Pulling the hat farther down on his head to be sure it was secure, he climbed onto Ladybug's back so they could head off once again.

It only took a few minutes to arrive at Nino's home, they landed outside the building to an empty alleyway. Adrien climbed off her back and gave her a light kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Adrien said, briefly catching the flustered look on Ladybug's face that she quickly tried to shake away.

"Y-Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow," And with that she swung off.

"I saw that!" Nino shouted from his window, causing Adrien to jump.

"Shut up!" Adrien immediately yelled back looking up at Nino smirking from his second story window.

Nino stuck a tongue out at him and Adrien rushed to the front door of Nino's building.

* * *

A/N: Am I ever going to have a non-Ladrien kiss? Lmao who knows.

Like two sentences of this chapter was planned and everything else was just a vague idea. The conversation between Nino and Adrien was completely unplanned, but it was good cause is addressed some things I completely forgot about in the last two chapters. Also getting from place to place in this chapter was really difficult due to logic holes I had dug myself into.


	12. We Watch Over

Chapter 12: We Watch Over

A/N: I was hoping to finish this fic before season 2, but evidently that just isn't the case. Also this chapter is a bit messy and distracted I'm sorry.

Edit: Added 500 words to the end because that scene didn't go very well with the next chapter.

* * *

The weeks passed in a blur.

Between school and running off with Nino to train with Marinette, Adrien felt like he couldn't quite keep everything straight. As much as he hated to admit it, Adrien needed a set schedule for himself, not a "whenever we can" schedule. Without the majority of Adrien's afterschool activities and modeling jobs he found that he had a lot of free time on his hands, he thought this is what he always wanted but he wasn't sure what to do with all the extra time. Training took up some time but they could only do it every few days to avoid suspicion, needless to say it didn't work well.

"You've been avoiding me Adrien," Was how his father started their talk that morning. It was a statement, no room to push any possibility of otherwise.

And yet Adrien pushed.

"Have I?"

"Yes, you've been spending a lot of time with Nino over the past couple of weeks."

"He's my friend, my best friend, dad, of course I want to spend time with him," Adrien responded, trying to keep himself cool and collected.

" _More_ time than usual," His father emphasized.

Adrien didn't say anything, instead looking off to the side away from his father's heavy gaze, waiting for him to explain his suspicions.

A few seconds of silence passed before his father sighed, "Look, I know you don't want to spend time with an old man like me," Adrien looked up at his father in curiosity, he never spoke like this, like a typical parent, "But you know you can interrupt me to talk whenever you like."

Before the incident, Adrien would have scoffed at a statement like that from his father, the man would never have time to break away from his work. But now, his father had pulled away from his work more and more, he knew there was something his father wanted Adrien to tell him. He did feel bad about going behind his father's back, if only a little bit, however hearing how he acted towards Ladybug shoved that feeling away.

"I know, and we've spent a lot of time together over the past month, and now I want to spend time with my friends again that are my own age," Adrien kept his voice level as he spoke and looked his father straight in the eye to emphasize that was the only reason for his spending so much time away.

"Other friends? But you've only been spending extra time with Nino, have you not?" his father asked in a most innocent tone, but Adrien could tell that he was cheering for finding a flaw in Adrien's excuse.

"Well yes, but sometimes Alya and Marinette are with us too," Adrien easily bounced back since they were often there, but worried about bringing Marinette into the conversation should his father ask more about her, "And I've been spending my lunchtimes with Chloé," Which was partially true, he tried to share his lunchtimes with Marinette, Nino, Alya, and Chloé equally, switching off with them for each day.

His father visually grimace at the mention of Chloé, knowing how she could be and never having approved much of their friendship in the past.

"Are you, interested, in any of those girls?" His father asked, visually uncomfortable with the question, but forcing himself to ask it anyways.

Never had his father taken such interest in his personal life before, and Adrien couldn't help but internally grimace at the show of force from his father. He would have loved to have a conversation like this with his father even a few months ago, but now he realized why so many television shows would make it out to be as awkward as it was. Please wouldn't his father just leave?

"No, Chloé's just my friend, Alya is dating Nino, and Marinette is just our friend," Adrien tried to clip the question short as quickly as possible, his father didn't need to know about any of his romantic feelings.

"Oh, Nino has a girlfriend, that's… nice."

Adrien thought he was going to scream.

"Yup it really is, and oh man look at the time, don't you have a meeting dad?" Adrien jumped up and began pushing his father out the door, making his discomfort _very_ evident, "I still have to finish my homework for the weekend before…"

They stopped, Gabriel barely out the door and awkwardly leaning on Adrien.

"Before you go to Nino's," His father finished, already knowing Adrien plans for the day.

"Uh… yeah," Adrien looked at the ground even though his father couldn't see him, painfully aware of the timing of their conversation only exacerbated the issue brought up by it.

"Are you sure, Nino has a _girl_ friend?" His father asked, giving Adrien the last push he needed to shove his father out of his room.

"Homework!" Was all he shouted as he shut the door.

Adrien was met with silence for a good long minute while he calmed himself down from where he stood before hearing Plagg's quiet laughter slowly grow from the other end of the room. He popped out from the blanket he was hiding under as Adrien turned to face him.

"Your father is painfully bad at talking to you! Stars above! I haven't had a laugh like that in some time," Plagg exclaimed as Adrien approached him.

"Yes, because uncomfortable personal conversations with my father are the pinnacle of humor," Adrien deadpanned.

"They are," Plagg confirmed, "At least they're better than listening to your talks with your friends, you're too serious, too mushy, or laughing at humor that makes little sense to anyone aside from yourselves."

"Do you have to listen to _all_ of my conversations?" Adrien whined, now very aware that Plagg was present for almost all of his and Nino's very _personal_ talks.

"I don't have much else to do now do I?" He asked.

Plagg was met with silence as Adrien didn't have a proper response and instead elected to do exactly what he told his father he was going to do. He sat down at his desk looking over yesterday's work as Plagg settled in his hair for one of his many cat naps.

* * *

"My father and I had a "personal chat" this morning," Adrien said as he pulled off his shoes in Nino's living room.

"Uh-oh, what's that mean?" Alya asked handing a drink to Adrien.

Marinette looked uncomfortable at the mention of his father but listened attentively from where she sat on the couch next to him, her own drink in hand.

"He's a bit suspicious about us, Nino and I, hanging out so much as of recent," Adrien said quietly, Nino's parents were out for the day but he was still cautious, Marinette frowned at the information but Adrien kept going to keep the conversation from getting too heavy, "And he's been wanting to know about my personal life."

Nino laughed from where he was setting up the movie for them to watch, causing Adrien to roll his eyes, of course that's how he's react.

"And what is that like?" Nino popped in the movie and curled up on the couch next to Adrien, Alya flopping down on the other side of her boyfriend.

"It's unbearable, he asked me if I liked anyone today," Adrien answered, again Nino laughed, "I'm about ready to pinch you, you know?"

"So what did you tell him?" Marinette asked with honestly curiosity.

"So did you tell him about Marinette?" Alya teased, "Tell him about your smooooching?"

"Alya shut up!" Marinette squealed, pulling a pillow from off the couch and attempting to throw it at her. It missed in Marinette's attempt to not hit Adrien and Nino between them and flopped to the ground

"No, Alya I didn't tell him about our 'smooooching'," Adrien replied, imitating how Alya dragged out the word, "I killed that conversation as soon as it came up."

"We understand Adrien," Nino said in a false sympathetic voice, "Your father isn't exactly the epitome of good conversation," Marinette let out a laugh at that, "And it's hard telling your dad that on top of hanging out with your local delinquent," Nino gestured to himself, "You're sneaking around romancing what he considers to be Public Enemy No. 1."

Marinette laughed louder, "That's me! Public Enemy No. 1, remember kids, don't eat your vegetables!"

Everyone laughed along as the movie began, no one was paying attention to it.

"It's Ladybug! She's here's to seduce all of Paris' most beautiful men and women!" Alya said between laughs.

"I know I've got your heart," Marinette replied with a wink, Alya dramatically swooned.

"Ooh Miss Ladybug!" Alya and Nino yelled out together leaning on top of Adrien to reach out to Marinette.

"But what about that Chat Noir? He's the real cat's meow," Marinette grabbed Alya and Nino's hands and kissed the top of their knuckles while looking up at Adrien.

"I heard he was a model as his day job," Adrien dramatically fanned himself.

"Gosh he's such a dream boat!" Alya gushed still on top of Nino and Adrien.

"10 out of 10 would slap his ass," Nino sang almost next to Adrien's ear.

"10 out of 10 have slapped his ass!" Adrien laughed.

They all fell into a fit of giggles as Adrien flopped onto Marinette, bringing Alya and Nino down with him. The first few minutes of the movie had not been noticed by anyone. They calmed down and restarted the movie to actually watch what they ignored and all four curled up together on the couch. Adrien felt good, he felt happy. He was with people he cared about and that was good, he felt normal.

* * *

When the movie finished Adrien and Marinette got up to head off for some training.

"Make sure you're back in time for dinner," Nino said giving both of them hugs with Alya.

It felt like a somewhat rude interruption to their time with Alya and Nino, but it was better than waiting until last minute, and leaving right after dropping off Adrien's phone somehow felt even more rude.

Adrien didn't feel too bad though, being Ladybug was fun, lots of fun. Admittedly, he had only been Ladybug a couple of times from their practice, wanting to take more time to get used to being Chat Noir again before trying something new.

It was odd at first, the sensation of transforming was different, softer than when he became Chat Noir. He also felt less of a change in himself when he transformed into Ladybug, no extra appendages or abilities, he felt more like a person in a costume than a super being. Similarly, learning to use her yo-yo was rather difficult at first, Adrien hit himself on the head many a time, but the feeling of weightlessness when he swung from one end of the warehouse to the other was absolutely fantastic. And using the Lucky Charm, while always confusing with the odd items it would produce, brought with it an amazing feeling of luckiness with it, nothing like his Cataclysm as Chat Noir.

They arrived at the warehouse after the long, but enjoyable walk. Marinette calmly took off her earrings and handed them the Adrien as he took off his ring around his neck and handed it to her. Their kwamis floated from their places and looked to each person that they would be working with for the time being.

"You ready Tikki?" Adrien asked with and enthusiasm that was easily met by her.

"Sure am!" She responded.

He transformed along with Marinette, watching her new look with interest, it was fascinating how their costumes differed from person to person. There was more black in his costume than Marinette's when transformed into Ladybug, with dark, boot-like markings coming up his leg.

"Still as adorable as ever with those feline features my lady," he commented.

"Keep you focus bug boy," She smirked as she lightly pulled on the scarf around his neck.

In response he pulled out the yo-yo at his hip and began to swing it around as she jumped back and pulled out the staff on her back. They sparred like that for a good hour, Adrien better able to keep up with each of their training sessions, he felt stronger, like he could actually face Papillon head on.

Which was becoming more of a problem, or at least an oddity.

"Papillon hasn't done anything? Really? Nothing at all?" He asked Marinette as they sat down for a quick break.

"The Butterfly Miraculous hasn't been active at all since the last akuma attack," Tikki confirmed as she took a bite of her cookie.

"So far no suspicious activity has been reported either," Marinette added.

"If anything that's even more suspicious," Plagg commented, Adrien nodded in agreement.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Adrien asked.

"What-" Marinette looked at him in concern, "What do you mean?"

"…Well, if Papillon hasn't done anything, shouldn't we be more on the lookout?" Adrien explained, it made sense to him.

"I mean yes, we are, aren't we?" Marinette seemed to be missing his point.

"I mean, what if we start patrolling around the city to watch for suspicious activity?" Adrien suggested, easily picking up on Marinette's worry but still going even further, "If we find anything, we could follow it to find out what he might be doing."

"You mean actively seeking out Papillon and trying to confront him," Tikki said, it wasn't a question, but a confirmation of what he said. By the tone of her voice he could tell she didn't approve much.

"Adrien are you sure that's safe?" Marinette slowly brought herself to speak, he felt bad for making her worry like this but it was a question that needed to be asked, "We've never actually confronted him one on one."

"We've just passively been fighting his akuma," Marinette grimaced at his use of the word "passively", as if they weren't really doing anything of importance. It was important, but Adrien knew there was more they could do, "If we stop the issue at its source, then the akuma stop happening, it's better for everyone."

"But they have stopped," Marinette tried to weakly defend.

"But for how long? This won't last forever you know," Adrien realized that he was being too aggressive in pushing his point, he needed to take a gentler approach to convince Marinette despite the obvious overthinking he saw through her eyes, "Look, I'm not asking that we go find him and immediately go fight him and stop him from sending out akuma," though that _was_ what he was asking, "I'm just saying that we should look a little harder for Papillon and find out if, or more so, _what_ he is planning and prepare ourselves or stop it before it gets to be something bigger then we can handle."

Marinette was conflicted, his logic was sound and Adrien could see how she recognized that, but she was holding herself back. Another minute of letting her mull over it and she sighed.

"You do realize that doing something like a patrol increases you likelihood of being spotted, are you willing to deal with the consequences of your father inevitably confronting you about having your Miraculous back?"

He had briefly considered it, and while the idea made him tense, he was willing to take his chances at hopefully not being spotted, "Yes."

"Fine then," Marinette sighed again, looking to the side, "We'll go out some time to do a patrol, something small, not the entire city, but sections."

Adrien reached over and grabbed her hand, cause her to look at him, he smiled to offer some confidence her way.

"This will be good for us in the long run," He said, "We'll stick together too, in case something happens," Marinette gave a small smiled back, though he could still see the look in her eye that told him that she certainly hoped nothing would happen.

They packed up their things and returned to have dinner with Nino and Alya.

* * *

No matter what way he went about it Adrien was sure that he would be caught by his father tonight while on patrol, whether it was by a report of Ladybug and Chat Noir being spotted in the night or more likely by the security feed catching Adrien sneaking out. He was nervous but willing to accept the consequences of his father knowing that he had his Miraculous back.

He was most scared of the possibility of his father attempting to take to take his Miraculous away with what Marinette told him about his father demanding the Miraculous. But he and Plagg devised a plan that if that did happen, Plagg would book it to Marinette's with the ring.

Adrien transformed in an alleyway and headed over to Notre Dame to meet with Ladybug, actually eager to do this patrol.

Sneaking around on the rooftops was much easier at night than during the day, he steps were silent, the almost-darkness of Paris shrouded Chat and made him feel invisible. He landed at their meeting point, Ladybug looking out over the city waiting for him.

"Did you run into any problems?" She asked.

"Nope! Slipped out like a snake," He purred.

She smiled.

"Good, we'll follow the route we planned before, and remember, we stick together," She looked at him for confirmation.

Chat Noir nodded at her. He thought it better that they split up, cover more ground, but for his and Ladybug's sake it was best if they stayed together.

"Well let's get going!" He cheered, pulling out his staff and launching himself to a nearby rooftop on the planned route.

"Right behind you."

Ladybug and Chat Noir followed the planned route quietly, watching and listening for any suspicious activity. At each landmark they lingered and looked over the crowded area more carefully than others, people actively milling about even in the late night. Nothing was seen.

They went from spot to spot like that for what seemed like hours, and yet nothing was seen.

The end of the route was reached, effectively going in a circle.

Nothing.

"Maybe we should go over the area again?" Chat offered.

"Chat's its okay if we don't find anything on the first night, we'll do this again," Ladybug offered.

"Yeah, but what if there was something there and we missed it? Like, we just overlooked it?" He pushed.

"Chat, we had at least two pairs of eyes looking over these areas, and we made sure to be thorough. I know you want to find something right away but these things take time," She reassured him, "Besides, you're tired, I'm tried. Its best we retire for the night and try again some other night."

Chat sighed, she was right, he could feel the exhaustion of staying up so late pulling his eyes down.

"I suppose so," He said letting a small yawn out.

Ladybug let out her own yawn in response and shook her head.

"Goodnight Chat," Ladybug leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek, "Sleep well."

"Goodnight Ladybug," He returned, heading off to his home. Ladybug watching him as he went before going her own way home.

Chat landed on the roof of his mansion in silence, he peeked his head down into the window of his bedroom, checking that his father wasn't inside waiting for him. He was needed his sleep now, he could deal with the consequences of his father catching him in the morning, where he could at least run off to school.

* * *

A/N: I am very bothered by how little information we have about Nino's home life. Does he have siblings? What do his parent look/act like? What does his home/bedroom look like? Please I must know!

Also check out this story on AO3 for a picture I drew of Adrien as Ladybug!


	13. Attack

Chapter 13: Attack

A/N: 3 notes, I added 500 extra words to the end of chapter 12, so if you haven't read those, then please do before reading this chapter. Also lotta swearing in this chapter, I have a potty mouth. Also, also, this chapter was written before I watched the first episode of season 2, and then I watched it and began screaming about both it and this chapter and the next. I also noticed I write Gabriel much less extra than he is in canon…

* * *

Adrien woke up to the sound of his alarm clock with a groan, his face pushed into his pillow to block out the light starting to fill in from outside. He smacked the machine until it went silent, and drew his arm into his blankets again. His mind was groggy but he felt his hand reach for the ring underneath him, quietly rubbing it between his fingers.

He stayed still like that, if he was lucky he would be able to slip out of the house to school without having to confront his father and-

"Sleep well Adrien?"

Adrien shot up from where he lay in bed at the sound of his father's voice right next to him.

"What the fuck?!" Adrien gasped seeing his father sitting poised at the end of his bed with a tablet in hand.

Adrien ran his hand through his hair to move it out of the way, using the movement to quickly look down and check that his ring was hidden beneath his pajama shirt without being obvious. It was, and he was glad to know that Plagg was tucked away in his corner up on the second level of his collection of books, out of site.

His father waited patiently for Adrien to look him in the eye before turning down to his tablet in hand, acting as if this occasion was the most normal one in the world.

"I was just having my coffee when I came across a curious article this morning," He said coolly, not showing how he felt about it at all, Adrien said nothing as he continued, "I think you would find this most interesting, "Ladybug and Chat Noir Spotted Exploring the Night and Watching Over the People of Paris," how nice of them to do that."

His father finally let a frown fall on his face as he turned back to Adrien waiting for an explanation, or even an excuse so he could thwart it, but Adrien had none.

"Y-yes, how nice of them to… uh, to look over us," Adrien mumbled, his father narrowed his eyes.

"Adrien why were you sneaking around last night with Ladybug? You know how dangerous it is."

"How… how do you know it's me?" Adrien asked dumbly.

His father said nothing, simply pulling up the security footage of Adrien sneaking out onto his windowsill on his tablet and turning it to him. Had the situation been different, Adrien might have found it amusing how he struggled to climb around while not transformed, but this was not the situation.

They were both quiet for a moment as the video finished.

"…Adrien do you have the Chat Miraculous right now?" His father asked.

"No…" Adrien lied quietly.

"You shouldn't have it Adrien, you're a child and could get hurt again," His father easily saw through his lies, likely having also seen the footage of him sneaking in as Chat Noir.

"I'm not a child dad, I'm 17, almost an adult," Adrien weakly defended.

""Almost an Adult" is still a child Adrien, both you and Ladybug shouldn't be in the possession of such dangerous items," Gabriel pushed.

He and Adrien have had this conversation before, and it always ended in an odd dead end, with Adrien defending that "At least he didn't have his Miraculous on him now, so his father should relax". Adrien couldn't hold up that argument anymore.

"An item that dangerous should be with an adult, give me your Miraculous," His father said, holding out his hand.

Adrien felt his mind go blank, was his father really asking this? He couldn't possibly.

"No," Adrien stated simply. He folded his hands together as a way to keep them from shaking and to show his father that he didn't have it. His father looked down at his hands and frowned.

"Where did your put it?"

"Put what?" Adrien was being childish, but it was the only way he could think of getting around this.

"Your Miraculous, where did you hide it?" His father held his growing anger together tightly, not wanting to blow up in front of Adrien.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Adrien," His father growled, losing more of his composure, "This is not the time for games."

"This isn't a game, an item as important as a Miraculous cannot simply be passed from one person to another," Adrien snapped, not knowing the legitimacy of his statement, just knowing that he was actually a bit scared of his father and how he was acting, "Besides even if I did have it, why should I give it to you? What are you going to do with it?"

"That is none of your concern Adrien! Just give me your Miraculous!" His father yelled, causing both of them to freeze.

Wrong answer.

What was his father hiding? That he wouldn't tell Adrien what he would do, he wasn't simply going to put it away or hide it, that much was clear.

It was tense for a good few seconds, Adrien's nerves shot as he looked at the dawning realization on his father's face at what he just said.

"Adrien-" His father began, leaning forward, his voice infinitely softer than it had been just previous.

But it didn't matter, Adrien was already out of his bed, instinct causing him to run out the room and continue out the house, slamming the button to open the front gate on his way out while Nathalie yelled out in alarm. He barely thought of where he was going until he could feel his bare feet slamming on the pavement, _to Marinette's_ , he decided right then, hoping that Plagg had followed him out of the house. He barely saw the reporter across the street watch him as he went soaring out the house and down the street.

Halfway through his sprinting he finally slowed down, letting his exhaustion set in, but never stopping. He slowed to a jog and saw that no one was following him, _good_. Slipping into a nearby alley and looking around he found Plagg flying a fair distance above, keeping pace with Adrien but not seeming like they were at all connected.

"Plagg, thank goodness."

"So much for keeping to the plan, huh?" Plagg snickered, diving down to hide in Adrien's pajama shirt and not be out in the open.

"Fuck, Plagg, I completely forgot about the plan and I just panicked and stars above did you see my dad? And-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down kid," Plagg interrupted Adrien's rambling, "I know it wasn't ideal but these things happen. Now where are we going?"

"M-marinette's" Adrien answered between breaths.

"Then we'll figure something out when we see her."

"I hope so," Adrien mumbled, checking once more that no one was around and slipping his ring on to transform.

Chat still felt tense as he headed to Marinette's home, constantly peeking over his shoulder on the rooftops or down into the streets to see if anyone was following him. Finally he landed on her terrace and almost too eagerly slammed on the trapdoor down into what he remembered was Marinette's room. Every second that passed made him more tense that someone, he wasn't sure who but _someone_ , would catch him.

Finally the door swung open with a resounding slap as a sleepy and disheveled Marinette poked her head up.

"What the absolute fuck?" She asked squinting at him with the sun in her eyes, "Chat? Why-"

Chat didn't allow her to finish, instead slipping into the opening as quickly as he could, pulling her and the door down with him.

He looked up at the door and watched it carefully as if it would suddenly break open and his father would be there, Marinette felt his tenseness and remained silent for a few minutes.

"Chat, what's wrong?" She whispered.

"My… My father," He managed to mumble.

"Did something happen?" She asked, leaning forward.

"N-no, well I-I mean yes, I just…" He couldn't think of what to say, his words and mind jumbling together.

"Chat calm down," Tikki said, rising from where she was behind Marinette, "Do you need some water?"

"No, no. I just, I, I need to breath," He finally said, forcefully willing himself to calm down and reminding himself that he was safe, no one knew he was here.

Marinette rested her hands on his shoulder and he looked at her.

Something about looking into her eyes was calming, as silly as it sounds, but he managed to start breathing in time with Marinette, letting each breath sooth his nerves bit by bit.

He finally let out one big sigh, "Okay, okay, I'm better."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," He offered a weak smile in response, she seemed to accept it.

"Now, if you don't mind telling me, what happened?" Marinette asked, her voice soft and her eyes filled with concern.

"My father," He took another deep breath, Marinette's grip tightened on his shoulders but she waited for him to continue, "He saw an article about our patrol last night, and… This morning, he came to me this morning and demanded that I give him my Miraculous. And, it was nothing like I had ever seen before. I-I panicked and ran here, I just, I didn't know what to do."

"Adrien you-" Marinette was cut off by her phone blaring from its place next to her bed.

They both froze, recognizing the alarm type.

There was an akuma attack happening, _right now_.

"Of all the times, now?" Marinette hissed grabbing her phone and looking over the details of the alert, "An akuma spotted at the Eiffel Tower, no, it knocked over the Eiffel Tower."

Marinette looked ready to jump up and spring to action before she stopped and looked at Chat in concern.

"We should go, but we need to be cautious," Chat responded to her silent question.

Marinette sighed as Chat opened the trapdoor above them and climbed up, "What timing" she muttered before calling for Tikki to transform her.

Ladybug and Chat sprang off from her terrace to the Eiffel Tower, worried about what kind of akuma and overall mess awaited them.

A cacophony of panic could be heard from surrounding area, horns honking at the traffic, people screaming at the damage, and police sirens blaring. Amongst all of it the Akuma could be seen in obvious sight, sitting on the tipped over Eiffel Tower, much too calm for the chaos they had created. They smiled when they finally spotted Ladybug and Chat Noir from across the way.

"How wonderful! Our heroes have arrived!" They cheered, standing up from where they sat on the destroyed monument. A mixture of light blues and greens covered them in odd patterns while strange curved stilts came from their feet, or foot, they only seemed to have one, making them taller that they really were, "Now we can start our fun!"

"They were waiting for us," Ladybug whispered.

" _He_ was waiting for us," Chat confirmed, "Trying to draw us out, be careful."

Ladybug nodded in response, the akuma cleared their throat for attention.

"What's your name?" Ladybug shouted at them, ready to dodge should they try and attack, but getting as much info about the akuma as she could from a distance.

"Ah yes, _you_ needn't any introductions, yet I do, for I am but a stranger to you," They bowed, crossing their stilts but not moving from their place, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am a performer of sorts," they bounced from one leg to the other, their bright hair bouncing with them, "A caller of attention, someone you simply can't not notice," They posed, their arm out stretched and Chat suddenly felt the urge to scan the area should this akuma be a distraction for the real threat, Ladybug did the same.

"My name is-HEY!" The akuma yelled, finally noticing how neither of the heroes were paying attention.

The Akuma sprang up from their stilts, launching themselves towards Ladybug and Chat Noir's space on the rooftop. Both heroes jumped out of the way in time, but the akuma just used the force of their landing to spring themselves in the same direction as Ladybug and Chat Noir with ease.

Chat turned around to aim an attack at the akuma following them, but they easily dodged.

"My name, just so you know, is "Stilt Stalker", as silly as it is," They said quickly regaining their direction and landing at a distance for Ladybug and Chat Noir, "And you most certainly won't forget it."

"Bit of a snore don't you think?" Chat teased Ladybug.

"Who are you talking about again?" Ladybug teased back.

"You dare!" Stilt Stalker yelled before quickly gaining their composure, a smile crossing their face, "Well if you don't remember me, then you won't care if I just sneak off and have more fun on my own, will you?"

"We most certainly can't have that," Ladybug smiled back, launching her yo-yo at the akuma's receding figure and glancing at Chat to remind him to watch her back in case the akuma was a distraction.

He did, but also saw how Stilt Stalker easily dodged her attack and continued to easily dodge the ones following it, Ladybug needed help catching this bouncy bait. Chat joined in the fight and tried as much as he could to catch the akuma but every time he did they would jump out of the way just in time.

A few more attacks and dodges and Chat found himself watching as Stilt Stalker came rushing towards him in an effort to dodge Ladybug. He was about to move out of the way, but they sped themselves up, a look of determination on their face. Stilt Stalker crashed into Chat stilts first with the full of their weight and pushed off him to land nearby, sending Chat flying towards a wall. Chat felt the wind knocked out of him as his back slammed into the wall, part of his vision going white for a moment while the rest went blurry. He slid down the wall and landed on his feet with a wobble.

However Chat's brief disarming was quickly forgotten when he suddenly heard the most ear-piercing scream come ripping from Stilt Stalker. He looked at them, blinking away as much of the blur as he could to see them bowed over in pain, clutching their head, and Ladybug nowhere nearby. A faint purple light faded away from their face as they snapped up to stand straight.

"Fuck! Okay! I won't hurt him!" They screamed at seemingly no one, but Chat knew that the akuma were able to talk to Papillon even if he wasn't there.

Chat's vision came back and he surged towards the akuma again, spotting Ladybug doing the same. Stilt Stalker looked to both of them and jumped high in sky to dodge their attack. Ladybug and Chat Noir watched as their eyes went out of focus and the purple light surrounded Stilt Stalker's face once again as they soared away.

"Papillon is talking to them, we need to find their cursed item while they're distracted," Ladybug said.

Chat nodded in response but didn't spot a possible cursed item on Stilt Stalker while they were fighting. The akuma landed on a roof top far away, still distracted by the purple light, "Do you know what it is?"

"No. No item seems out of the ordinary, it might be their weapon, but that's their stilts, and which one would it be?" Ladybug pondered.

Chat looked over Stilt stalker again, they only had one leg and the stilts were made to accommodate the difference in limbs, "Perhaps the fake one?"

"That our best gu-"

"Hey!" Stilt Stalker called out for them, their tone having lost its aloofness from before and their face twisted in a grimace, the purple light was gone and Ladybug and Chat Noir had lost their chance, "This asshole," The akuma pointed to their head, "Want's to talk to you two!"

"What?" Chat asked, the akuma called themselves an asshole?

"The bug man, fucks his name?" They asked, snapping their fingers and seeming more agitated when thinking on it.

"Papillon?" Ladybug offered.

"Yes! That asshole!" They grabbed their head in pain and growled, "Fucking-he wants to talk to you, now."

"Now?" Chat asked, suspicious about such an offer.

"Yes _now_. He said he'll tell me where he is, I'll take you to him, and we can get this bullshit done with!" Stilt Stalker said, hopping down from the roof and landing a distance away from Ladybug and Chat Noir. They looked quite exhausted as they approached.

"What do you say Ladybug," Chat asked her, his voice low and one eye on the akuma as he remained guarded.

"He, he wants to meet us," Ladybug uttered, her eyes wide on the akuma and completely petrified.

"Ladybug, this may be our best chance to actually know what Papillon's doing," Ladybug looked at him like he was crazy, "We know it's a trap, but we're prepared."

"Are we really?" She asked.

 _Not really_ , Chat confirmed in his head, but that didn't matter, he had a feeling that this was the perfect opportunity for them.

"Yes, we've been training, and we're together," He looked her in the eyes, giving her all of his confidence while hiding all of his worry and suspicions underneath it.

"Al-Alright," She answered looking back over to the akuma patiently waiting for their answer, certainly most suspicious, "But remember we stick together and if anything goes wrong, we run, and make an actual plan."

Chat nodded, instructing the akuma to take them to Papillon.

* * *

A/N: I cut this chapter in half because it felt too long altogether, so next chapter we'll meet Papillon, exciting! Stilt Stalker is my akumasona and of course the pic was drawn by me.

Please leave a review on what you thought I'm thirsty.


	14. It Gets Worse

Chapter 14: It Gets Worse

Ladybug and Chat Noir followed Stilt Stalker in silence, watching how they shuffled as they walked. Even when slumped over, they towered over Ladybug and Chat. Each waited for Stilt Stalker to suddenly turn around and attack, but they never did so. After a fair distance, the three arrived at what looked like an abandoned warehouse, similar to the one Chat and Ladybug trained in.

"This is the place, he should be in there," Stilt Stalker sighed, turning around to them and looking even more exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked in genuine concern.

"I feel sick," Stilt Stalker mumbled, holding their hands over their stomach.

"Do you-"

"Just go in," they snapped, stopping Ladybug from trying to help.

Ladybug and Chat Noir entered the building with Stilt Stalker following after them; it was barely lit and eerie. They looked around and found a pair of legs standing at the top of some metal stairs. Windows were covered and what little light that came through wasn't strong enough to reach their face, but Chat was sure it was Papillon.

"You best purify that akuma Ladybug, they look about ready to be sick," Came Papillon's voice from the direction on the legs, Chat moved into a defensive position from where he stood, "Don't worry I'll wait."

Ladybug gave a look to Chat to watch her back, he nodded in agreement and she turned to Stilt Stalker.

"It's their leg, the fake one," Papillon offered.

The Stilt Stalker looked between Ladybug and Papillon in worry, but reluctantly held up their leg for Ladybug to remove, she did so and flung it around to smash the item into the ground.

Stilt Stalker audibly gasped, "My prosthetic."

Ladybug made quick work of purifying the akuma and calling for the mysterious disappearing light to fix everything. An exhausted person in shorts and a t-shirt collapsed in Stilt Stalker's place, a blue and green prosthetic replacing the vacant place of their leg.

"You served me well, you better get going now," Papillon said.

Ladybug helped them up and out of the building. When she re-entered, the covers on the windows were removed dramatically and the room became brighter, revealing Papillon's full form, Ladybug gasped. The man stood straight in his purple suit, a cane in hand and his face covered in…

Chat Noir almost pissed himself laughing.

"WHAT THE FUUUCK!? AHHAhahahahaaaa, hang on, hang on, okay, wait, before we start, WHAT is all that goin' on with your face?" Chat yelled out between laughs, "You look like you belong in a go-go cage of someone's sex dungeon!"

Ladybug, despite her fear before, let out a small chuckle next to Chat. Papillon did nothing but narrow his eyes.

"No, he's got a suit it's a fancy sex dungeon," Ladybug added. Chat burst out laughing even louder.

"You-haha-you look like your trying to avoid a restraining order!" Chat continued, he couldn't help it, all this worry for some big bad guy and he looked like THAT? Ladybug was laughing harder next to him, but still holding it back as much as she could, "There's just so much leather going on around the facial region, I can't tell if you're angry with me or just uncomfortable with the layer of sweat that mask must be generating from underneath. You must have a serious case of acne to try to cover your face like that!"

Papillon waited a few second's for their laughing to calm before speaking.

"That's certainly no way to talk to an adult," Was all he said.

"You know, Paps, I kind of see us more as co-workers, what with how we've been "working together" over the years," Chat looked at his nails in a performance-like manner, not holding back the sneer in his voice. "And you know, stabbing your co-worker is certainly no way to interact with them."

Chat could have sworn that he saw regret on Papillon's face when he peered up at him, but it could have just been an illusion of his mask. Why would a psychotic man who goes about causing havoc and destruction to Paris on a near daily basis for several years actually have regrets about hurting someone? Much less his own worst enemy.

"That was certainly no way for him to act," Papillon said in reference to the man who actually stabbed Chat, pushing the blame off of himself, "I never wanted you to get hurt Adrien."

"Well that's some tough shit Pa-" Chat stopped, feeling a cold sweat climb his back when he realized that Papillon had called him by his name and not his alias. The use of his name put a horrible sense of familiarity between them that didn't belong, Papillon sounded almost like his father.

"I can promise that I will never hurt anyone again," Papillon continued without missing a beat, as if knowing that Chat would react this way, "I will never make another akuma or hurt you or anyone else if you just give me your Miraculous. What do you say Ladybug, Adrien?"

There it was again, his name, what the hell was he doing?

"What do you need our Miraculous for?" Ladybug asked, picking up on Chat's hesitation. He shook his head, he needed to focus.

"I will never attack you again," Was the only answer Papillon gave.

"Try again," Chat growled, "What the fuck are you going to do with our Miraculous?"

"You needn't concern yourself with that," Papillon responded, narrowing his eyes.

"Then you needn't concern yourself with them," Ladybug said, imitating his words.

"And you can fuck right off," Chat added for good measure.

"Again, Adrien, that's no way to speak to an adult."

"Shut up," Chat said in a low voice, feeling his blood beginning to boil.

"I don't want to hurt you, Adrien, I just need your Miraculous," Papillon continued.

"Shut up," Chat growled, louder.

"We have no reason to give them to you," Ladybug said, trying to keep Papillon from saying Chat's name again and trying to diffuse his growing anger, "No reason to believe that you would actually stop the akuma attacks."

"I promise," Papillon put his hand over his heart but the gesture felt mocking, "I don't want to hurt you."

"Well it's a little too late for that!" Chat shouted, "Why don't you come down from your pedestal and fight me yourself instead of hiding behind your shitty, off-brand, 90's villains?!"

"Chat, calm down," Ladybug hissed between her clenched teeth giving him a look to stop antagonizing Papillon.

"I think you'll find it best to listen to her, Adrien," Papillon said with a grimace.

"Don't call me that," Chat growled.

"What, your name? Why shouldn't I? It's the one your father gave you-"

"If you so much as fucking touch my father I will absolutely slaughter you!" Chat screamed out, pulling out his baton and gripping it hard.

Papillon seemed startled by the statement, as if he had been watching Chat and had seen their last conversation and knew that the threat, while true, was said at a bit of an odd time. The thought of being watched made Chat's skin crawl.

"Adrien… I-"

"Shut up!" Chat screeched again, launching himself at Papillon despite Ladybug's protests, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Papillon was quick to guard himself and blocked the swing of Chat's staff with his cane, the weapons making contact with a resounding clang. Chat took one hand off his staff to make a jab at Papillon up close, but he grabbed Chat's hand before it could make contact and twisted them around, pinning Chat's hand to his back.

"I don't want to hurt you Adrien," He insisted from behind Adrien.

And by all the stars above, again, he swore that Papillon sounded like his father.

"Shut up!" Chat yelled, bending forwards and flipping Papillon over his back.

The man, rather impressively, landed on his feet while still holding onto Chat, causing him to bend over and hold up Papillon's weight. Ladybug's yo-yo suddenly wrapped around his legs and pulled so that he released Chat and fell flat on the floor. Chat quickly took the moment to get his arms back and line them up, punching Papillon square in the face.

The punch was hard, and Chat hoped that his nose would be broken and bruised from the hit. He would have continued but Ladybug came running up and stopped Chat before he could.

"Chat! Calm down!" She shouted, grabbing his arm.

He let her stop him and watched Papillon for his reaction, clearly seeing the fear stretched across the man's face. Chat felt a sick sort of satisfaction flow through him and he grinned manically down at the man.

"Oh Adrien," Papillon mumbled out from where he was on the floor, barely enough for anyone to hear but Chat did and tightened his fist, "My little boy…"

Chat almost hadn't heard the words. But he did, and his blood froze. It had been years since he had heard those words, and even then only from his mother, who used them fleetingly. But Papillon, who was sounding more and more like his father in Chat's mind, surely it was an illusion. No, his father never used those words, despite Adrien always imagining him doing so in his youth; they were mumbled so weakly they surely couldn't be the words of his father. Papillon was sick, he had been watching Adrien, surely he had. Following Adrien's home life without his knowing, learning what words would get the biggest emotional response, his words were false. This man was a liar!

Without thinking Chat broke away from Ladybug's grip and punched Papillon in the face once again. How dare he use his own words against him? How dare he try and play with Chat's emoti-

Chat was quickly stopped when Ladybug pulled him back again, Papillon weakly pulling himself onto his hands and knees and putting some distance between the three of them before he was suddenly consumed by a bright light. Ladybug and Chat Noir watched in fascinated horror as the light traveled over Papillon not unlike the way light would travel over them when releasing their transformations.

Gabriel was left in his place.

Gabriel… that was his name right? Didn't Chat know him somehow? He wasn't sure, his mind, his mind was going blank. He couldn't think for the life of him how he knew this man, surely he knew him.

Chat heard an intake of breath next to him, Ladybug, Ladybug was here beside him and she was seeing everything that he was seeing too, did she know the man before them? His eyes refocused and he caught sight of the little bug thing, floating in front of him, it was small, and purple, had butterfly wings, and looked an awful lot like…

…an awful lot like a kwami.

It couldn't be. Papillon had a kwami? But that would mean he was like them, but, he wasn't. Could kwami's be evil? Chat had never thought to ask.

The little purple kwami glared at them from where they floated in front of Papillon-no his name was Gabriel.

Chat's tail flicked from behind him.

Gabriel _Agreste_. That was his name. He was, he was, Adrien Agreste's father, the poor kid.

"Wha-"

Ladybug began to speak from where she and Chat were frozen, but she was quickly cut off by Gabriel, Adrien's father, lunging towards them. No, towards Chat, towards his Miraculous. Instinct took over and Chat rolled out of the way, Ladybug having let go of him, just as quickly Gabriel turned to Ladybug. His hand shot out at lightning speed as he seemed to pass by Ladybug and grabbed her nearest earring, he pulled as he continued to surge past her and ripped the earring out of her ear. He didn't stop moving until he crashed through the window.

Chat couldn't hear anything as he watched Gabriel go flying out the window in what seemed almost to be slow motion, a flash of light coming from his side, but he could only focus on Gabriel. Gabriel, Papillon, he was running. Gabriel was running, Adrien's father was running, where to? To his home? Was Gabriel going to Adrien? Adrien, his son… Adrien…

His figure disappeared from Chat's view and Chat suddenly could hear Ladybug's swearing from next to him, the tinkling of glass, and his own heavy breathing. He couldn't seem to get a breath in no matter how much he inhaled, Adrien was, Adrien was him. Gabriel was his father! Papillon was his father.

His heavy breathing increased in a phenomenal level, Papillon was his father, he had, they had been fighting and-

"Chat!" Someone's voice echoed from nearby.

He turned owlishly and saw Marinette sitting next to him, still in her pajamas from earlier, her hair wild and loose, and holding her sleeve to her bloody ear. She was hurt, Papillon hurt her, Gabriel, his father hurt her.

"Are you okay?" He managed to croak.

"A-", She stopped, words at the tip of her mouth as it opened and closed and her eyebrows dancing with her narrowing and widening eyes, "Are _you_ okay?"

Chat opened his mouth to answer her, but nothing came out, he really wasn't sure what to say. The immediate question of "why wouldn't I be okay?" came forward but his foolish question was quickly answered. His father was Papillon, there was nothing okay about that.

"We need to make sure he doesn't run off," Was what ended up coming out.

"What? No, Chat, we're in no condition to chase after him right now" Marinette quickly replied.

"She's right," He turned down to Marinette's lap, where Tikki lay with exhaustion covering her face.

"T-Tikki, are you okay?" Marinette asked, as if she had only just realized the kwami was there, Adrien had.

"I'm fine Marinette," She responded, dragging her words out, "It was just a shock to suddenly be pulled in half like that. I'll be better with some food and rest, you two need it as well."

Chat's mind went into over drive as his thoughts suddenly came back to him in droves, everything previous lost to the onslaught of things going through his head at the moment. They needed to get out of there, Marinette probably needed to go to a clinic to get stitches but he couldn't go with her without everyone seeing him and becoming suspicious, they needed to go home and rest. But where? They couldn't go to Marinette's, his presence with Marinette would tip of her parents off as to who she was, and bringing her home with a bloody ear wouldn't be favorable. They couldn't go to his house for obvious reasons.

They could go to Nino or Alya, but they were likely at school. He pulled out his baton and checked the school, there was a high possibility that it wasn't even open, this has been the first akuma attack in well over a month. He was right, the school was closed for the attack, which meant everyone was home. Chat relayed this information to Marinette, who gave him a confused look in return, and used his baton to call Nino.

The seconds that passed while waiting for Nino to pick up were heavy, finally there was a click.

"Hello?" Nino asked

"Hey Nino's it's Chat," He greeted back, not giving a moment's hesitation, "Listen can Marinette had her earring ripped out and I can't take her to a clinic after an akuma attack without everyone figuring out who she is, can you take her?"

"Chat I can take mysel-"

"No," Chat responded flatly, barely catching the sound of Alya's voice on the other side of the line asking Nino who called, "I don't want you going on your own, he could be waiting for you, knowing you'd need stitches, it's dangerous."

Marinette pursed her lips, but nodded in agreement, he didn't specify as to "who" was, unwilling to say any name that he had, but she knew who he was talking about.

"Woah, woah, wait, what? What happened? Are you two okay?" Nino frantically asked.

"We're fine," Chat reassured, "Listen, we're coming over, we can explain more then. Are you home?"

"I-uh, oh-okay," Nino sighed knowing the questions could wait, "And yes, Alya's with me."

"We'll be there soon," Chat responded and promptly hung up before Nino could say anything else, "We're heading to Nino's, Alya is there, one of them can take you to a clinic for your ear."

"…Alright," Marinette stood up, offering her hand to him, he got up on his own.

"I'll carry you," Chat said while squatting down to give her a piggy-back, "No one will recognize you in your pajamas and with your hair down, but you should try to hide your face as much as you can."

Marinette hesitated.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She ended up asking.

"I… Yes. Do I-Do I not seem okay?"

"You, well you seem a little cold," She explained.

"I'll… I'll be fine, we just, we need to do this, and then," He swallowed, worried about sounding too cold, "Then we'll have a moment to actually rest."

Marinette was still hesitant but agreed and climbed onto his back, one arm holding him and the other still holding her ear.

They left the building and jumped onto its roof, Chat saw no one in the area, he was relieved but disappointed at the same time. They set out for Alya and Nino.

He was quick and careful, and showed up to Nino's window in relatively good time. Alya and Nino waited for them inside and both perked up when he knocked. They opened the window and Chat climbed inside, sliding Marinette off his back and onto Nino's bed. Nino and Alya fluttered around them in worry.

"What happened you two? Alya caught part of the fight but then you ran off with the akuma, we saw the Eiffel Tower got fixed, but I just, are you two okay? Marinette's bleeding, what happened?" Nino asked frantically.

"Clinic," Was all Chat managed to say pointing to Marinette.

"…Come on Marinette, I'll take you to the clinic," Alya said holding her arm and pulling her up, she looked over in Nino and Chat's direction, "We'll be right back."

Alya and Marinette left, closing the door behind them to give Nino and Chat more privacy. Chat ended up flopping down on Nino's bed with a sigh, hunching over and releasing the tension that he hadn't even realized he had been holding. He finally let his transformation fall and felt a sudden weariness fall over him.

Nino kneeled before Adrien, who was still clad in his pajamas from this morning, and put his hands on his shoulders, "What happened?" He asked more forcefully, bringing Adrien's attention back and looking him in the eye.

Adrien was suddenly very aware of how much of a mess everything had been just previous, he was a bit nervous to tell Nino anything. It sounded bad.

"There-uh, there was an akuma attack," Adrien weakly answered.

"I know, I saw, but what happened after that? When you left with the akuma."

"We…" His voice was soft, barely more than a whisper as he recalled what happened, "We met Papillon.

Nino said nothing but squeezed Adrien's shoulder tightly, still looking him straight in the eye.

"…" Nino waited for him to continue, but he didn't, "…And?"

"And, uh we fought him," Nino quipped an eyebrow at the vague answer, "And, he, he wouldn't call me "Chat"."

Nino narrowed his eyes at the information.

"He kept calling me "Adrien". And you know, it was horrible, and I kept telling him to shut up, but he wouldn't, and star's, Nino, he sounded like my dad," Chat explained, letting the words suddenly pour out of him, "And-hah-it was so crazy you know, he kept calling me A-adrien and he sounded so much like my dad and I just, I just snapped and I hit him, and I hit him again, and I guess it was hard enough that he- well he released his transformation. And what do you know, it-it was my dad."

His voice was barely audible when he finished, tears having begun to pour out of his eyes without his realizing it. He couldn't see Nino before him.

"I… I hit him, I hit my father. I punched him, fuck, I punched my father, what the fuck what the fuck?!" The words kept tumbling out of him, he couldn't stop, he just couldn't stop, "He's my father, I-I just, what the fuck, my father, he just-"

"Hey, hey, Adrien calm down, it's okay," Nino said with a soft voice, moving his hands to Adrien's face to get him to look up, "Adrien calm down, it's okay, it's okay, I'm right here, take a deep breath."

He tried, but all that came out was a choked sob, Nino pulled Adrien into a hug.

He wrapped his arms around Nino and cried harder. Stars above what was happening? He felt a whirlwind of pain and exhaustion flow through his body, it was horrible and Adrien thought he might throw up. Instead he just kept crying and crying, barely able to breathe through his sobs. Hiccups and tears wracked his body as he held even tighter onto Nino, afraid that he would somehow disappear if he loosened his hold.

They were like that for what seemed like forever before Adrien finally calmed down enough to loosen his grip, small hiccups still jerking him and a quiet rumble coming from deep within his chest. Nino pulled Adrien back to look at him again.

"Better?" Nino asked

"A little bit," Adrien answered, wiping his pajama sleeve over his eye in a weak attempt to clean his face.

Nino was at a loss for words at first, "Do you…" His eyes flashed to the side, unsure of what to say, "Do you… want some cheese?"

Adrien let out a weak laugh at that, he remembered, it was such an obscure thing, how Adrien always had cheese on him for Plagg. But Nino remembered, stars Adrien loved him for that. It was probably best that Plagg do get some cheese, they had been out for most of the morning.

"Yeah, that, heh, that would be nice," He nodded.

Nino brushed his hair back in a comforting gesture before heading to the kitchen, telling Adrien that he'd be right back before mumbling about what cheese he had. When the door closed, Adrien collapsed onto the bed, exhaustion overcoming his body as he sunk into the mattress. He was tired, so, so very tired. He wanted to just lie there forever. His eyes closed and he tried to focus on his breathing to calm himself, he was safe, Nino was with him, and Marinette was at the clinic. It was okay, he was okay.

The words felt false but he didn't dwell on them too long as Nino came back in the room with a small piece of cheese and glass of water. Adrien sat up as Nino handed him the cheese, he awkwardly looked at Nino before putting the cheese in the little pocket on his pajama shirt for Plagg. Nino made no comment about it and handed the water to Adrien as he sat beside him.

"I brought you some water too, in case you needed it," Nino said.

"Thank you," Adrien took the water and took a drink, it felt good letting the water cool him down. A few more drinks and he sighed, setting the glass down next to Nino's bed.

"How are you feeling?" Nino finally asked.

"Tired," Adrien sighed, running a hand over his face, "Like I could sleep for years."

"You look like you could use some rest," Nino said, pulling back the covers, "Come on."

Adrien crawled in, Nino lying next to him and pulling the covers over them. Adrien curled up next to Nino and wrapped his arms around him once again, taking a deep breath, Nino did the same running his fingers through Adrien's hair. It felt nice, the rumble in his chest came back and relaxed Adrien as he closed his eyes.

After some time, Alya and Marinette returned. They sat behind Adrien making a divot in the bed and spoke softly to Nino.

"I just had to get a couple of stitches, I won't be able to wear an earring in this ear but it will be fine, my powers work with just one earring," Adrien heard Marinette say, he didn't know that her miraculous would work with have the jewelry, maybe had she encountered this problem before, "I also made sure to call my parents so that they knew I was here."

"Good, good," Nino mumbled back, his chin bumping against Adrien's head.

They all were quiet for a moment before Alya spoke.

"Is he okay? Marinette told me what happened."

"He had a bit of a panic when you two left, but he's calmed down now," Nino answered.

"Oh Adrien," Marinette sighed as she reached her hand out and ran it through his hair, he felt the rumble in his chest return at her touch.

"…Is he, is he purring?" Alya asked.

"He does that sometimes," Marinette commented offhandedly, knowing of the many a time that he would purr as Chat.

"He was doing it earlier too," Nino added.

"Cat's tend to purr either as a sign that they're comfortable, or as a way to comfort themselves when stressed," Marinette informed the other two, still running her hands through Adrien's hair.

"He's not a cat Marinette, he's a human boy," Alya deadpanned.

Adrien let out a small laugh at that, alerting everyone that he was awake.

"I've been subconsciously doing this ever since I got my miraculous, I think it's louder when I'm Chat Noir," Adrien informed them.

"It is," Marinette confirmed.

"So, you get odd animalistic qualities from your miraculous," Alya said, "Tell me Marinette, do you sometimes crave aphids?"

"Shut up," Marinette laughed.

They were quiet for a moment, legitimately pondering the question and Adrien's purring appearing to become louder in their silence.

"The purring, it's a rhythm," Nino mumbled, "It feels nice, like having a giant cat curled up next to you."

Adrien chuckled, feeling a small pressure on his ribs as Alya mumbled "I can feel it."

Again silence, Marinette was the first to speak up.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, definitely," Adrien answered.

"Are you sure?" Marinette asked.

Nino pulled back just enough so he could see Adrien's face, Adrien turned to partially look at Marinette and Alya

"Yeah, I really needed to rest," Adrien confirmed, "I'm still rather tired."

"I could go for that as well," Marinette agreed with a sigh.

"Get some rest you two, we won't stop you," Alya said.

The covers were pulled back from behind Adrien, he leaned back into Nino for warmth, before Marinette and Alya climbed in. The bed was quite tight with the four of them, Marinette pressed into Adrien's back, but the close proximity was welcome. Adrien allowed himself to relax completely.

* * *

Adrien awoke, unaware of when he fell asleep or what time it was now, but very aware of the lack of people in the bed with him. He opened his eyes to find a pillow wrapped in his arms and a note in front of his face, the distant sound of glass and silverware coming from the cracked open door.

 _Didn't want to wake you, down at dinner with Nino's parents. We'll bring you something to eat after._ Read the note. A growl came through Adrien's stomach as he realized he hadn't eaten anything today. However the opportunity of being alone brought something else to the forefront of his thoughts.

"Plagg?" He asked quietly.

"Here," Plagg responded, floating around Adrien to sit in front of his face, still pushed into the pillow.

"Can…" Adrien looked to the side, suddenly unsure if wanted to say anything, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Plagg said, but the way he didn't quite look Adrien in the eyes made Adrien unsure if he would actually get a straight answer.

"You mentioned knowing Ladybug's identity well before we did," Adrien began, referencing one of the many conversations they had when the miraculous had finally been returned to him, "Did… did you know my father-" Adrien paused, not sure if he wanted to know the answer to his question, "Did you know my father was Papillon?"

His ears lowered as he looked away from Adrien and down at the sheets.

"At first no," Adrien took a sharp breath, "But as time went along, I found out."

"And you didn't tell me?!" Adrien tried to keep his voice down but couldn't hide his shriek, "Wh-why didn't you tell me?"

Plagg glance up at him from the side, his expression hard but his eyes soft.

"You know why," He said. Adrien didn't want to, but he did, he knew exactly why. Telling someone that their family was evil, that they had to fight them, was hard. And would have greatly influence how Adrien would have acted, he could have stopped being Chat Noir even, "But that doesn't matter, because you know who he is now."

Adrien wanted to fight it, to say why it did matter, he was fighting his father, that was important. His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't find anything to say.

"And now, you need to decide what we do with him."

* * *

A/N: Done! Reminder that the first part of Papillon's encounter was written before I saw any of season 2, I wanted to make sure it didn't influence how I wrote this chapter. I finally realized that this story should be called "It Gets Better and It Gets Worse". With the "it gets better" title applying to the first part of the story, Marinette's half, and the "it gets worse" title applying to the second part of the story, Adrien's half. I like giving Adrien panic attacks for some reason, he has one in my other fic too.

This part of the story was originally supposed to be broken up into two different parts, with Chat and Ladybug encountering Papillon a second time and Adrien finding out his identity then. But it didn't really flow well or make much sense. I ended up rearranging and rewriting how the whole ending happened, but I have a more concise idea of how this story will end thankfully.

Please drop a review and tell me what you thought!


	15. Some Semblance of a Plan

Chapter 15: Some Semblance of a Plan

A/N: This chapter was a doozy to write, but Finals are done and I'm beginning the next (and final semester) at college so lets hope I'll update more frequently.

"I have to figure out what to do with my dad?" Adrien whispered.

"Yes," Plagg answered back, a pause in his face as he saw Adrien's panic.

"All on my own?"

"Certainly not, you can always ask for opinions from the others, but you have the final say in what is to be done."

Adrien frowned, he knew it was right for him to have the final say, since it was _his_ father, but he just wasn't sure what to do.

"What do you think Plagg?" He asked.

"…" Plagg frowned at the thought, "What you do is up to you, every possibility has a consequence and you must consider all of them."

Adrien frowned, that was the most unhelpful and vague thing Plagg could have said. Plagg looked to the side, knowing Adrien wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"The others will have stronger opinions on the matter," Plagg sighed, "You have to be careful about Tikki though, her strong sense of justice tends to cloud her judgement for what is best for… sensitive situations. Your friends are more likely to have your best interests in mind for you."

Adrien sighed and pushed himself harder into the pillow in thought, taking note of what Plagg said about Tikki and hoping his friends would have a better, or at least a more definite answer. He listened to the distant sound of silverware, china plates, and murmurs of words he couldn't quite make out. Were they cleaning up dinner? Did Nino's parents even know he was here? He wasn't sure, his head still foggy. However long he slept, it wasn't long enough.

A few minutes passed in general silence between Adrien and Plagg. The sound of conversation was changed out for table chairs scraping against the floor, the thumping of feet, and eventually the sprays of water. Finally, the door creaked open, Plagg flying out of sight, to reveal Alya, Nino, Marinette. Nino held a plate of food and Marinette had silverware and a glass of wine. They smiled seeing Adrien awake.

"We didn't want to wake you, but we thought you'd be hungry when you did wake up, so we brought you some dinner," Alya explained, partially closing the door behind Marinette.

Adrien sat up and stretched, his stomach growling at the thought of food.

"Thank you, I haven't eaten all day," Adrien said, thanking Nino as he handed over the plate of food.

"Typical models," Nino teased as he sat next to Adrien on the bed, Marinette handing him the other items and setting the wine down next to the bed.

"It's not my fault," Adrien shrugged with a look towards Nino, taking a bite of the plate of delicious in his hand and almost moaning at the taste, "Tell your parents I love them."

"They know, Adrien," Nino rolled his eyes, "You tell them that every time you come over for dinner."

"And I'll tell them that every time after," Adrien said between bites, Alya and Marinette sat down on the other sides of him and rolled their own eyes.

"I told my parents you're here," Nino said, changing the tone to a more serious one. Would Nino's parent's call Nathalie? Nino picked up on Adrien's worry, "I also told them that no one's supposed to know that you're here."

Adrien quipped an eyebrow, did they actually agree to keep him a secret?

"You know my parent's Adrien," Nino stressed, "They won't say anything."

Adrien sighed and nodded in agreement.

They all waited for him to finish his meal, Marinette looked like she wanted to say something to him but waited until Nino and Alya had taken the dishes back down to say anything.

"We need to figure out a plan of action, you can't just stay here and avoid your father all night without arising a panic, and…" She sighed, "I don't want you going back home right now, not after what we learned."

"I understand," Adrien nodded in agreement, "We need to figure out what to do, and… and how to handle my father. I don't know what to do, and I think its best if we talk between all six of us to figure something out."

"Six? Six of us?"

"Yes all six, Nino and Alya should know about Tikki and Plagg, if we bring all our heads together, we should be able to figure something out," Adrien explained.

"What?" Tikki hissed poking her head out from behind Marinette's shirt, she was wearing clothes, not pajamas anymore, she must have gotten them when she was out with Alya.

"I second that," Plagg piped up from behind Adrien.

"There's danger in them kno-" Tikki began, but Plagg cut her off.

"We know that," He snapped, "But all of us need to be able to talk to each other to form a coherent plan. Nino and Alya are trustworthy."

Tikki frowned and crossed her arms, mulling over the thought, "…The gravity of the situation is too-"

Plagg glared at her.

"…Fine," She huffed throwing her paws up in exasperation, "We'll tell them, we'll all talk together and figure this out. Fine, fine, whatever, it can't get much worse than this!"

Adrien hadn't heard Tikki talk this way, with such sarcasm in her voice, almost like a teenager. It was both amusing and concerning.

"It can and it has," Plagg replied simply, Adrien wondered what they had done in the past.

They looked as Marinette, waiting for her answer.

"I-I guess we can tell them," She finally answered, "It's dangerous, but Alya and Nino have done well to keep the secret so far, and I know we can trust them."

Marinette and Adrien decided to hide the kwami's and prepare their friends for what they would say. Alya and Nino picked up on the tone of the room the moment they walked in.

"We have something to tell you, close the door," Adrien began, Alya and Nino shared a wary look.

"There's _more_ you need to tell us? You haven't already told up everything?" Alya asked, while Nino checked the hall and closed the door. They sat down in front of Marinette and Adrien, looking down at their clasped hands.

"No, it's dangerous for you to know everything about our abilities, but the fact of the matter is that we all need to put our heads together and figure out what to do, and that means giving you as much context as possible," Adrien explained.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone about this," Marinette emphasized.

Alya and Nino both nodded eagerly, "Of course, of course, we won't tell anyone. We don't want you to get hurt."

Marinette and Adrien glanced at each other before opening their hands and revealing Plagg and Tikki.

Nino's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the kwamis, his mouth gaped.

"Bug," Was all Alya croaked, pointing at Tikki.

"Not bugs, kwamis," Tikki corrected floating up with Plagg to be eye level with everyone, Nino backed up.

"What?" Was all he squeaked out, pointing to the kwamis.

"Our powers don't come from the Miraculous alone, these two give us our powers as well," Adrien explained, "They're kind of like our familiars."

"My name is Tikki, it's a pleasure to meet both of you," She said, floating up to Alya and holding out an arm in greeting.

Alya cautiously took it between her fingers and shook. Nino pulled his hands closer to himself when Tikki flew over to him in greeting.

"And I'm Plagg," He said with a shrug.

"Uhh, okay, and you are…" Alya dragged out waiting for the answer.

"Kwamis," Tikki repeated.

"Right, and that is?"

"A being of magical qualities," Plagg explained, though it didn't really explain _what_ a kwami was, even Adrien and Marinette didn't quite know, but Plagg didn't look interested in explaining further.

"Listen," Adrien broke in, getting Alya and Nino's attention, "The reason we told you about them is so we could all talk together and make a plan."

"A plan?" Nino questioned.

"Yes, we… we know who Papillon is," Adrien said shakily, "And he has one of Marinette's earrings, we need to find him and stop him."

"And how do _you_ propose we do that?" Marinette asked.

"…Find him and take his Miraculous away?" Adrien weakly suggested, he didn't really know.

"He has a Miraculous?" Alya asked, "Like yours?"

"Yeah," Adrien said, his eyes losing focus with the memory, "I saw his kwami, it was small and purple and had butterfly wings."

"You know who that kwami is? Don't you?" Marinette looked at Tikki and Plagg, "You can tell us about them?"

They nodded, but looked nervous.

"Noroo, the kwami for the papillon miraculous," Tikki began explaining, "She's… temperamental."

"She's corrupted," Plagg stated, everyone looked at him in question, but he didn't explain.

Tikki looked away, her nervousness increased, "Over many a year, we have wielders who were… morally questionable, when they use us for bad things over and over again, we become damaged and corrupted, losing our own moral sense."

Everyone's eyes widened at the information.

"Even if we do separate the two of them, Noroo is not likely to go quietly with us," Tikki said.

"Is there a way to… un-corrupt her?" Marinette looked at Tikki is concern.

"Yes, but that is not a job for any of you," Plagg explained, "We need to take her to The Healer."

"The who?" Adrien, Alya, and Nino all asked while Marinette gave a knowing nod.

"The Healer, I told you about him Adrien, though you may not remember," Marinette began to explain, the way Adrien scrunched up his nose in question told her that he didn't, "He's an old man I met a couple of times when Tikki was sick and Plagg was hurt, he knows about the kwami and Miraculous, and I… I think he's the one who gave us the Miraculous."

Tikki and Plagg both nodded before Plagg spoke up, "He'll be able to handle her and take care of her."

"And how do we take her to him?" Adrien asked, "If she won't go quietly with us like you said, and she can phase through things like you two, then how can we actually catch her?"

"Shouldn't we ask this healer guy?" Nino suggested, "If he knows all about you and has the authority to take care of these bug-"

"Kwami."

"-Kwami things, then surely he would know what to do?"

Tikki nodded eagerly, "He's right, we _should_ talk to the Healer, he'll give you what you need and help you however he can."

"You know where he is?" Alya looked to Marinette.

"Yes, we can try and see him. Not now, but tomorrow, after school," Marinette answered, her eyes unfocused as she thought over it.

Everyone was aware that nothing was going to be done tonight, each mulling over the fact that planning something out like this takes more than one night. Besides they had yet to get to the one topic Adrien really wanted to talk about.

"And my father, what do we do with him?" He whispered.

They all turned to him slowly, looking at him with curious eyes and making Adrien squirm.

"You should be the one to decide that," Marinette responded, Alya and Nino nodding beside her, but picking up on Adrien's nervousness.

"I-I know that, but, I don't know what to do," Adrien's hunched up his shoulders and bowed into himself, "I mean that's why I have you all here, I, I don't know what to do, and I thought you might all have a better idea-a better suggestion, something," Adrien sighed, his shoulders drooping as he looked to the side.

Everyone was quiet, thinking over what _to_ do, Adrien played with the blanket between his hands, worried over what they might suggest.

"Well…" Alya began, breaking the silence, "What _are_ our options? Let's put them all on the table, and figure out which one has the least amount of disadvantages."

She got up from the bed and grabbed a little notebook, flipping it open to a blank page and grabbing a pen with it.

"Option one… jail time," Marinette mumbled.

Alya wrote it down while Adrien slowly nodded, going to jail was the most obvious answer, but to be honest, part of him didn't want to just lose his father like that.

"Advantages and disadvantages?" Alya asked.

"Advantage, a criminal who has been terrorizing Paris for the past two years is put away, and receiving retribution for his actions," Adrien answered, his words slow and fighting against the lump in his throat, but no less true in their meaning. Alya scribbled it down.

"Disadvantage, he's your only living family as of current Adrien," Nino said giving Adrien a meaningful look.

It was true, neither of his parents had siblings and his grandparents had long since passed.

"I'm almost 18, my father has enough wealth to support me until I am of age and can inherit it," Adrien responded, not thinking it would really be a problem.

"Yes, but through the eyes of the law, you're still just a minor, and unless you have a legal guardian, there's a likelihood that you'll be …taken somewhere?" Nino slowed his words, uncertain about the full legalities of the situation.

"…If anything your parents could adopt me," Adrien said offhandedly in a joke.

"They certainly wouldn't object to that," Nino laughed.

There was a moment of light heartedness between everyone before they went back to the topic on hand.

"Well that might lead to the next possible option," Nino began tentatively, "Option two, do nothing."

There was immediate disagreement from Tikki and Plagg, and the way Marinette pursed her lips told Adrien that she felt similar. Alya, none-the-less, wrote down the suggestion.

"Advantage," Nino continued, despite the objections, "Adrien doesn't lose what's left of his family and it doesn't have to get out to the media that Adrien's father was Papillon."

Adrien's eyes widened at the thought, he hadn't considered the news, the public knowing about this. Something this big, it would hang over his head for the rest of his life, and in a way much worse than being Chat Noir would.

"Disadvantage, Gabriel doesn't receive the proper retributions for his crimes against the public," Marinette countered, Tikki immediately flew up next to her and sided with her.

"Okay, okay, maybe rephrase it," Adrien suggested.

"Right, right," Nino put his hand over his chin and nodded in agreement while rephrasing his suggestion, "Do nothing as in not send him to jail, or have outside groups involved and handle him internally amongst ourselves?"

Alya scribbled it down. To Adrien it sounded good aside from some fine details, but Tikki still wasn't satisfied.

"And what exactly does "handling him internally" mean?" Tikki asked, Plagg seemed to flatten his ears and look away, as if he knew what she wasn't going to say next.

Nino opened his mouth and gestured his hands, but didn't say anything. It was a good question, a hard one to answer as Adrien didn't really know what to say, however judging by Plagg's looks, Adrien figured Tikki had an idea.

"That would lead into option three, erase his memories," Tikki deadpanned.

Adrien's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "What!?" he was not expecting that.

Plagg gave Tikki a very pointed look while she sighed, "It's never the most fun thing to do but it is mandatory that anyone who abuses the powers of the Miraculous, have it taken away and their memories of it erased."

"But, but that's over two years of memories!" Adrien cried, "He'll, he'll forget all that, and, he'll go back to how he was two years ago!"

Despite how his father had been over those two years, he certainly had made progress, especially in the last months. Taking away his memories from the past two years, that would, that would put him in the same state he was back then, when his mother's disappearance was still recent. Adrien's hands shook at the thought, that, that was worse than the possibility of losing him physically. But, Tikki said it was mandatory, which meant that no matter the option, this was something that was going to happen. If his father went to jail, his memories would be erased, and he would be in there without even knowing why. He suddenly felt the hand on his back and looked up, having been staring at his hands without even realizing it.

"There wasn't really an option for anything else was there?" Adrien asked Tikki and Plagg, trying and failing to hide the betrayal in his voice. Plagg looked away in shame, something Adrien had never really seen on him.

"…No," Tikki answered softly.

"…" Adrien open his mouth to snap at her, but nothing came out. He took a deep breath, everyone quiet and waiting for what he had to say, "…Is, is there any kind of compromise we can reach? Maybe not erase all two ye-"

Everyone jumped when the door knocked, Tikki and Plagg flying to Adrien and Marinette to hide. It was Nino's mother; Gabriel was here to talk to Nino. He jumped to his feet and told his mother that he'd be right down.

"You two, hide," Nino demanded, snapping his fingers at Adrien and Marinette and then pointing to his half open closet doors.

Alya got up and pulled Adrien and Marinette up as Nino walked out the door, leaving it slightly ajar behind him. Adrien was pushed into the closet first, he awkwardly stepped over the mess of Nino's closet and pushed himself into the farthest back corner, Marinette following quickly after. Alya shoved the hung clothes forward on their rack so they formed a curtain, and the mess on the ground was pushed up higher to hide the slightly exposed portion of their legs.

Marinette pushed against Adrien in the far back corner while they heard the Alya shuffle around and leave the closet to likely make herself look inconspicuous should Gabriel and Nino come upstairs. Adrien could barely breath, his hands practically vibrating at the thought of his father catching them. Marinette put her hands flat against his chest and made an effort to take a deep breath, Adrien tried to match her but his breath was too shaky.

"Calm down, it's okay," Marinette whispered, taking another deep breath, Adrien followed and did slightly better, "And try to breathe through your mouth, it'll be quieter."

Adrien opened his mouth, and tried to be as quiet as he could, but in the silence of the closet, every sound felt like a bulldozer coming through. He tried to focus on Marinette before him, it was too dark to see and her breathing was significantly quieter than his, but the warmth of her hands on his chest grounded him.

The bedroom door swung open and Nino's muffled voice came through, Adrien felt his entire body freeze.

"Monsieur Agreste is it really necessary to come up to my room? I said Adrien isn't here, I don't know where he is," Nino's insisted.

"Bonjour Monsieur Agreste, what-" Alya faltered, Adrien worried about what she saw, "…What are you doing here?"

The silence from his father was deafening, but Adrien somehow found it better then when he actually heard his voice.

"You," His father began, "You were the girl who filmed the akuma attack today."

"Uh. Yeah that's me," Alya answered back nervously.

"…What are you doing here?" Gabriel asked suspiciously.

"I'm hanging out with my boyfriend since we don't have school today," Alya responded, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for my son, Adrien, he didn't come back home after the akuma fight," Gabriel answered, "Why didn't you follow Ladybug and Adrien when they left with the akuma?"

Adrien grimaced at how his father still refused to call him Chat Noir.

"They, that meeting, it was a serious one, one that shouldn't be filmed for anyone to see," Alya warily explained.

"Well Adrien in missing now, and I don't know where he is, he could be hurt!" His father said, his voice louder but not quite reaching a shout.

Adrien clenched his fists at his father's words, knowing that his father very well knew that if Adrien was ever hurt in that encounter it would be his fault.

"Calm down!" Alya shot back with the same energy in her voice as Gabriel, "Listen, I'm sorry but I don't know where Adrien is!"

"And if he's not here than he'd likely be at Chloé's or someone's else home," Nino interjected.

"Who?" Was all Gabriel asked, his voice was so quiet Adrien almost didn't catch it.

"Ladybug's? Fuck, I don't know," Nino suggested.

Everyone was quiet, and Adrien was worried that his father might do something dangerous. There was a loud huff from his father and a shuffling of feet that left the room. They waited for what seemed like hours before Nino came back up and said that Gabriel was gone. Adrien and Marinette didn't move until Alya pulled away their wall of clothes and touched Marinette's shoulder. She jumped at the contact, pulling her hands off Adrien's chest, and he realized that Marinette had been just as tense as he was when his father arrived. Alya pulled Marinette and Adrien out of the closet, his legs felt like jelly and he slumped into Alya's arms while Nino caught Marinette.

"He'd likely be at Ladybug's home?!" Marinette hissed smacking Nino upside the head.

"Ow! What? It's not like he knows who you are," Nino grabbed his head and let Marinette stand on her own.

"We don't know that! We don't know that!" Marinette continued, smacking Nino's arm, "He pulled my earring out and I released my transformation, we don't know if he saw me before he ran, we don't know! We don't know!"

"Hey. Hey. Hey!" Alya shouted, letting go of Adrien (he barely stood on his own) and rushing over to stop Marinette from continuing to hit Nino, "Calm down!"

"Shit! I'm sorry Marinette, I didn't know what to say! I wasn't thinking okay! We just needed him to leave and he's gone," Nino snapped back, holding his arm while Alya pulled Marinette away.

"If he knew who you were, Marinette," Adrien began, his head finally clearing and recognizing the situation before him, everyone went quiet, listening to what he had to say, "He would have gone to your house first, and if he did that, then your parents would have called."

There was conflict in Marinette's eyes as she looked at him, she still wanted to be angry, she still wanted to worry, but he was right and she knew that. She sighed and let her body relax, Alya let go of her.

"You're right, I just-" Marinette ran her hand through her hair with a sharp breath "…Sorry, I'm sorry Nino, I didn't mean to blow up at you and hit you. You were, you were just trying to help."

"It's fine," Nino responded.

The four of them sat down on the bed once again while Tikki and Plagg slowly peeked their heads out, Adrien checked the door with them, they flew out when they saw it was closed.

"We should get back to our conversation from before," Tikki softly suggested.

There was a general consensus that they should, but the discussion was undeniably more awkward this time around, they avoided talking about what to do with Gabriel after they beat him and instead tried to plan how they would actually go about beating him.

* * *

An hour or so passed of them talking and trying to for a plan, but it was late in the night and it had been a long day, the plan was looking messier and messier.

"Maybe we should come back to this," Alya suggested, looking as her scribbles on the note pad, "Tomorrow when we talk to that healer guy you mentioned."

Everyone agreed. Marinette was about to get up when Nino's phone rang. He jumped up and pulled it from its charger on his desk to look at who was calling.

"It's Nathalie."

"Don't answer it!" Adrien insisted.

"If I don't answer it, I'm going to look suspicious," Nino said, he mumbled the next part, "And your father might come back looking for you.

Adrien quickly hissed out an "I'm not here!" as Nino answered the phone, rolling his eyes and turning on the speaker phone so everyone could hear the conversation.

"Bonjour Nathalie," Nino greeted.

"Nino? Good, I'm glad you answered," She said on the other end, "Listen, I'm looking for Adrien, he didn't return home after the akuma attack, and he doesn't have his phone on him so I don't know where he is. I don't know where Gabriel is either, he's been out all day without a word, and without _his_ phone. Have you seen either of them?"

She sounded exasperated, like she was actually worried, and she probably was. Adrien knew her only to show emotion when she was truly at her wits end, and not knowing where he and his father were must have put her there.

"I'm sorry Nathalie, but I haven't seen him all day," Nino replied easily.

There was silence on her end.

"Listen," She sighed, "I know that Gabriel is angry at Adrien about going out as Chat, and I realize he might not want to come home right now, but I just need to know where he is."

She sounded genuine, and Adrien wanted to tell her, but-

"I won't let Gabriel know, I wouldn't even be able to tell him if could," She grumbled the second part, Adrien never hear her grumble, "Please, is he with you? Have you seen him?"

Adrien gave a look to Nino saying that he wanted to tell Nathalie, Nino immediately shook his head. Alya covered the bottom half of her phone with her hand.

"Do you think it's a good idea?" She whispered.

"No, Adri-"

"Nino, it's okay, she should at least know so she won't call the police trying to find me," Adrien insisted, "Besides, she doesn't even know where my father is, she wouldn't be able to tell him."

"You don't know that, and how do you that your father won't go home tonight and Nathalie won't tell him then?" Marinette asked, Nino nodded eagerly in agreement at her words.

"Nathalie's always been an advocate for me, I trust her."

Adrien looked at Alya, hoping she would take her hand off the phone. Her shoulder's slumped and she did, by the expression on Nino and Marinette's faces they still didn't agree, but they didn't try to fight him. Everything was quiet as Adrien hyped himself up for what he would say.

"I'm here," He finally responded, and heard Nathalie sigh.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked.

"Everything is fine. I knew my father would be angry at me so I ran off to Nino's place after the fight," Adrien explained, glancing over many of the more worrisome details, "Listen, Nathalie, you can't tell my dad I'm here. When he comes home, don't tell him anything. I don't… I don't want to go home right now. I'll be fine with Nino."

The lack of immediate response on her end made him shift nervously.

"I understand Adrien," She finally said, Adrien let out a sigh of relief, "Do you have any idea when you'll come home?"

"I don't," He said, but thought about it for a moment, "A week maybe, at the earliest, but… I don't know."

"I'll bring your books and some clothes over tomorrow morning," Nathalie stated, no room for argument.

"Right."

"Is there anything else you need from us?" Nino interjected.

"…Have, you seen Gabriel at all?" She asked.

"...We have, he was here earlier looking for Adrien, I made him leave," Nino replied.

"How long ago was that?"

"A little more than an hour," Nino said.

"Do you know where he went?"

"The Bourgeois hotel possibly, otherwise I'm not sure," Nino responded.

There was an irritated sigh from Nathalie for a brief moment.

"Well, thank you for the information, I should get going," Nathalie said.

"Wait, before you go…" Adrien broke in.

"Yes?"

"Do I… Do I have another legal guardian aside from my father?" Adrien cautiously asked.

She took a long pause before answering, likely worried over why Adrien would asked her such a thing, but the lack of an immediate "no" meant that he did actually have one, "Sometime after your mother passed," Nathalie began to explain, Adrien took a sharp breath at the mention of his mother, "I was given legal guardianship over you in the case on an emergency. Is something wrong?"

"No! No, I was just curious," Adrien quickly responded, "Bye Nathalie!"

Adrien hung up the phone himself, everyone was quiet and Adrien felt heavy, like he was being pulled down.

"…Well, we should be getting home," Marinette mumbled, Alya nodding and getting up with her.

"Stay safe you two," Adrien wished.

They each leaned over to give him a hug before doing the same with Nino, returning the wishes to stay safe before leaving.

* * *

A/N: Finally, this chapter was difficult to write as I just kept rearranging and rearranging things. But it's done and we're so close to being done with this fic. Ahhh!


	16. Up to Speed

Chapter 16: Up to Speed

Just as she said, Nathalie came by Nino's early that morning to drop off a small duffle bag of Adrien's clothes and his book bag for school.

She watched Adrien closely as he checked the bags, she hadn't brought his phone but he didn't mind. He tried not to look at her once he had confirmed the bags were fine and had what he needed, but it was hard. Appearance wise, everything about Nathalie was fine, everything but the bags under her eyes that told him she has been up all night, stressed.

"Are you okay?" He finally managed to ask.

Her eyes lost focus as she thought over the answer.

"Your father didn't return home last night," She mumbled, Adrien clenched his fists, "He hasn't called, at the very least he does that when he disappears, but not last night, and everyone I asked said they hadn't seen him, aside from the Bourgeois hotel. Who said the same thing that you did," She looked at Nino momentarily before returning her attention to Adrien, "Did something happen? In the attack? Is he okay?"

"He wasn't captured if that's what you're asking," Nino responded from behind Adrien.

"How do you know?" She asked him.

Nino stopped and looked awkwardly to Adrien.

"We just do," Adrien shrugged, she narrowed her eyes at his aloof response, "Nathalie, it's fine, he'll be back, you don't need to worry about him."

"There's something you're not telling me Adrien," She stated.

"…You're right," He mumbled, but began to push her out of Nino's apartment, "And I won't tell you now, maybe later. I just need some time to think about it!"

She protested, but Adrien easily pushed her out the door and managed to close it before she could push her way back in. He sighed with his back against the door. Nino stared at him.

"You know you'll have to tell her what's going on eventually, she needs to know," Was all Nino said grabbing Adrien's duffle bag and taking it to his room. Adrien grabbed his book bag and followed after.

"I'm aware of that. It's like I said, I'll tell her later," Adrien replied.

"You said " _maybe_ later"," Nino corrected as they got ready, Adrien tried to ignore him.

They headed to school in silence, Adrien acutely aware of Nathalie and the Gorilla following them from a fair distance in the car. They stopped when Adrien and Nino met up with Marinette and Alya at school, the four of them rushed in past the new stream of reporters there after the akuma attack and went to class. Adrien quickly regretted coming to school when he saw all the eyes on him. Of course, how could he be so stupid, everyone was curious about the akuma attack yesterday, about what happened when he and Ladybug ran off with the akuma. However, no one said anything, the silence was stifling, but he certainly wasn't going to be the one to break it.

He sat down and gave everyone a glance over, stopping at Chloé, who gave him a very stern "we need to talk" look from where she sat. It was probably about his father's visit last night to her hotel. He looked down at his desk and pulled out his school work, waiting for the teacher to come in and distract the class.

When the teacher did arrive, they knew not to say anything about yesterday and went into their lesson like any other day. Adrien was thankful for it at first, but as the day moved along, it became annoyingly evident that he couldn't focus in class. He kept thinking about his father.

Erase his memories; it was such a terrifying concept to Adrien. He understood why Plagg hadn't said anything about it before, but that didn't help to quell his anger. He tried to think, to remember how his father was two years ago. Strict, quiet, full of stern gazes, and closed off, very closed off. Adrien was amazed how Nathalie ever managed to convince him to let Adrien go to public school.

His pencil hovered over the paper for the longest time. His father had a miraculous. How did he even get it? Was he supposed to be a hero, to fight someone else and then corrupted Noroo? Adrien ran his hand through his hair, he didn't know, he didn't even know _why_ his father had been making akumas. Why he wanted the Chat and Coccinelle Miraculous. His father never answered Marinette when she asked during the fight yesterday. He sat up, he and Marinette didn't know, but maybe the Healer would know.

Lunch was spent with everyone still watching him, waiting for him to say something without having to start the conversation themselves. The four of them didn't leave the school for fear of the reporters attempting to follow them and instead settled at one of the little picnic tables inside the school grounds, Marinette having brought extra lunches so they could all stay inside. Alya, Nino, and Marinette acted as a shield for Adrien from the other student's questions, he doubted his classmates would attempt to swarm him with questions, but their presence next to him was comforting.

Halfway through the period, Chloé finally approached him with Sabrina in tow, having just come back from getting her lunch. She sat down directly across from Adrien and looked at him, Sabrina sitting down next to her and nervously looking between everyone else before electing to look down at her food.

"Alright Adrien," Chloé said, her voice stern and sounding almost like she was going to scold him, "What's going on? What was your father doing at my hotel last night?" And then, in a softer tone, "Are you okay?"

Adrien looked her straight in the eye. Telling Chloé meant a higher risk of information being exposed, she wasn't the best with other's secrets, but there was also the likelihood of her following him out of curiosity and finding out more than she really needed to know. He gave her the most basic answer.

"My father is unhappy with me going out as Chat Noir," Adrien said, "He thinks it's too dangerous for me and wants me to stop."

"So you're hiding from him? Not coming home?" She looked at him hard, as if she could see through him. She glanced to his right, where Nino sat, "Staying at Nino's?"

Was it that obvious? Chloé knew Adrien well, but she figured that out way too fast for comfort, Adrien opened his mouth to say something but couldn't think of what.

"Look," She sighed, it was odd to see and the four of them watched her closely, "If you need help, if you need a place to stay, you could always stay at the hotel, you'd have your own bed and-"

"No." Adrien interrupted, "Too close, it's too close to home."

She looked hurt at his immediate refusal, but quickly shoved it down and gave a strained smile, "Fine, fine," She stood up from the table, Sabrina following suit, "Just… Stay safe Adrien, and I can help you if you need it."

She gave a pointed look to Alya, Nino, and Marinette before leaving, _this isn't over._

* * *

After school, the four of them ran. Adrien, Alya, and Nino followed Marinette through what they guessed was a more convoluted path than normal to reach the Healer. The closer they must have gotten, the slower they moved and the more Marinette checked to make sure no one was following them. They arrived to a seemingly normal looking apartment building after a few minutes. Marinette led the way into the building and up the stairs, Tikki poking her head out to point out the correct door.

Adrien felt Plagg squirm under his shirt and poke his head out to watch as they stood before the door. Marinette was about to knock, but it opened before she could. A short, old man stood in its place, Adrien swore he had seen him before but couldn't place where. The Healer smiled as he looked over the four of them.

"How nice to have so many visitors at once, please come in," He said, stepping out of the way of the door and allowing Marinette, Alya, Nino, and Adrien in.

He watched Nino and Alya closely, they noticed and squirmed under his gaze as he closed the door, feeling like they shouldn't be here. He said nothing and beckoned them further into the apartment, Plagg and Tikki coming out in the open. They followed Marinette as she sat down on the floor, but Nino hesitated.

"Are you sure it's okay that we're here?" He blurted out, still half standing, "We… as in, Alya and I. I mean, we don't have miraculous, or powers, or kwami-things, and we really shouldn't know any of this, are you sure it's okay that we're here?"

Alya gave a look showing that she shared his sentiment, just to a lesser degree.

The Healer just smiled, "You have been given more information about the Miraculous than the average person," Marinette said they could trust him, but Adrien briefly wondered if he was going to erase their memories for knowing, "And you are obviously very trustworthy if these two to let you know," He glanced at Adrien and Marinette, "And very cared for."

"Wyazz, I can hear you nagging us from here," Plagg suddenly said to the air, "Come out, it's okay."

A small green kwami shot out from behind a phonograph to their right, "I can't believe you let two strangers know about the Miraculous!" He began yelling, however it wasn't directed at Adrien or Marinette, but to Tikki and Plagg, "It's one thing for someone to figure out their identities, but to learn about the Miraculous and you two?! They know too much!"

Alya and Nino looked nervous again, staring up at the kwamis floating above them. Plagg rolled his eyes while Tikki looked to the side in shame.

"No need to be so hard on them, Wyazz, they're in love," The Healer said, stopping Plagg as he opened his mouth to defend himself.

"That doesn't make it okay, master!" Wyazz snapped back.

Adrien's eyes widened when he realized the implication of the Healer's words, he glanced at Alya, Nino, and then Marinette to his sides. It looked like they were also coming to understand what the Healer said.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, wait, wait, wait!" They all began spluttering at once, trying to explain the nature of their relationship.

"They haven't quite figured that one out yet on their own," Plagg mumbled coming down to rest on Adrien's shoulder. Tikki did the same thing, and looked like she wanted to laugh.

"Look, look, look," Adrien said, shaking his head and regaining his focus, "We came here for a reason."

The other's quieted down and looked at him, waiting for him to say it or to jump in and help should he lose his words.

"We need your help to figure out how to stop… How to get the butterfly kwami -whasit, Noroo- here, and uncorrupt her," He said, the Healer watched him as he stumbled over saying "Papillon". Adrien didn't look up at him, too afraid to find out if the Healer already knew that his father was Papillon just like Plagg did.

"Tikki and Plagg explained that we need to bring her to you to help her with her corruption," Marinette explained, "But…"

"I understand; with her corruption she's not going to come with you willingly. Just a moment," He confirmed, standing up with a worrisome crack in his bones and shuffling over to one end of the room where a phonograph sat on top of a drawer. The Healer pulled open the drawer directly underneath the phonograph and went rummaging through it, after a few seconds, he pulled out a little black box with red detailing that reminded Adrien of the one he had first got with the Chat Miraculous and had long since lost; Marinette eyed at it with recognition as well.

The Healer turned back to face them and sat down, he handed the little box to Marinette.

"An electrum box, one of the few things a kwami can't pass through, it will hold the Papillon Miraculous as well as Noroo herself, and allow for her to get some much needed rest," He explained, they watched with interest as Marinette opened the box, Adrien expected another kwami to suddenly appear like before, but it was empty and nothing happened, "You don't need to put Noroo in it, just her Miraculous item, and she'll disappear into it."

"...Thank you, this is exactly what we need," Marinette responded, closing the box and putting it in her purse.

"Now we just need to figure out a proper plan," Alya said, she pulled out the note pad that they had scribbled their mess of a plan on.

The Healer nodded, glancing over the plan and seeing how disorganized it really was, "Are the two of you going to be able to fight him-" He gave a knowing glance between Marinette and Adrien, making his whole body sink, before being interrupted by Alya.

"Two? No-no, all four of us are going up against him," Nino agreed with her, though less enthusiastically. Both Marinette and Adrien's eyes bulged out of their heads at the comment.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said anything about you being involved in the fight?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah, you two aren't getting hurt on our behalf," Adrien added, he would have even preferred that Marinette not be involved in this fight with his father, but she at least had powers and experience in fighting.

"So, what? We're just going to stand on the sidelines and watch you possibly get hurt by your own father?" Nino said, "If we can prepare for this fight, we can certainly help you in some way."

"You don't have powers! And he does!" Marinette screeched, "And if you two get too close to the fight you're going to get hurt!"

"Perhaps," The Healer spoke up, relieving some of the tension in the room and bringing everyone's attention to him, "A helping hand could be used."

He stood up again and walked over to the phonograph, this time fiddling with it in a way Adrien couldn't see. He straightened up when he saw the phonograph suddenly open up, revealing a much larger electrum box. He glanced over to Marinette to see if she recognized the box, but she looked at it with just as much wonder as Adrien did.

"Four people have a higher chance of overpowering one, then two might have," He said as he set the box before them and glanced at Adrien from the side of his eyes. Adrien could hear what wasn't being said, _particularly if one of those might not even be able to fight due to familial relations_. He couldn't help but feel like an obligation.

The box opened, its cap covering its contents from them while the Healer peered inside thoughtfully, Adrien guessed that inside were more miraculous. He looked up at Alya and Nino, who straightened under his calculating gaze, and rubbed his chin.

"A fox, for someone who always seeks fact from fiction," He said, holding out a necklace to Alya. The charm was in the shape of a fox tail and looked remarkably similar to the necklace that Lila had claimed made her a superhero so long ago, the same necklace that was part of the Agreste design line. Adrien sunk at the realization as Alya gently took the necklace in her hands, this time however, it glowed and a small kwami with markings like a red fox came floating out of it and before her, leaving the foxtail white in its wake.

Alya couldn't keep the smile off her face as the kwami introduced themselves as "Trixx". They gave a small exchange of words while Alya put on the necklace before quieting down as the Healer looked over to Nino. Sweat gleamed on his forehead as the Healer thought over what to give him, he continually switched between looking the Healer in the eye and looking anywhere else.

"You wish to protect your loved ones," He finally said, Nino gave a tiny nod in confirmation, letting himself relax just a bit, "Wyazz."

"No," Was all the little kwami said, Nino's eyes widened as he realized what the healer was doing.

"I think you should watch over them," The Healer continued, not even blinking at Wyazz's immediate refusal.

"I think I should stay here and protect you," He replied sternly.

"Oh I'll be fine, there are plenty of others to watch over me," The healer explained, sliding a bracelet Adrien hadn't noticed off of his wrist, and handing it to Nino.

"Are you sure?" Nino asked, gently taking the bracelet from him and sliding his fingers over the Jade charm cut in the shape of a turtle. Wyazz, reluctantly, floated over to Nino's side.

"Of, course, and it won't be forever, this is only temporary help," The healer confirmed. Nino agreed with that, though Alya looked saddened at the idea of having to return the new Miraculous.

They were quiet for a while, thinking over their plan and how to change it with the extra help, Marinette and Adrien would need to train Nino and Alya as much as they could in whatever time they had so they could use their powers properly, but no one knew how long that would actually be. The Healer straightened up, having not yet closed the box of miraculous, which was concerning.

"Ah, it seems your follower has finally caught up to you," He said with interest, causing everyone else to pale.

"Our… Follower?" Marinette asked with worry, but they had made sure that no one was following them.

Suddenly a heavy knock came from the door, more like someone slamming the palm of their hand on the door aggressively.

"Adrien? Marinette, Alya, Nino! I know you're in there! Let me in I can help!" It was Chloé's voice.

Panic came over Marinette as the healer stood up to head to the door, "Don't let her in!" She hissed in worry. It was hard to hear her over the thumping on the door.

"Adrien, I know you're having a lot of trouble right now, I just want to help!" Chloé repeated.

"This help can be very good for you all, Marinette," The Healer said, dignifying that he had heard her, but blatantly ignored her as he continued to the door.

He opened the door revealing a very pissed Chloé, her hand up from where she had been pounding on it. She looked down at his in shock, not expecting someone she didn't recognize to be there.

"I ask that you not cause too much of a riot, and please come in," He said, stepping to the side to let her in. She looked around the room before spotting Nino, Alya, Marinette, and Adrien all sitting together on the floor and came stomping past the Healer towards them, their kwamis instinctively hid from her sight. The Healer barely blinked an eye as he closed the door behind her.

"Alright, what's going on?" She started without a moment's notice, "The three of you sneaking off with Adrien after what's been going on…" She paused and looked at Adrien, "What has been going on? Adrien you can tell me, I can help."

"How did you manage to find us here?" Marinette asked the question they were all thinking, "I made sure that no one was following us."

"I'm not stupid," Chloé defended with a sneer, swinging her phone as she crossed her arms.

"I beg to differ," Alya replied rolling her eyes.

"Oh screw off," Chloé snapped back.

"Please calm down," The Healer said, coming back into the room, he gestured next to Nino, "And please, sit."

"Not until someone tells me what's going on," Chloé responded, shaking a finger at the Healer.

"If you sit, we'll explain Chloé," Adrien bargained, seeing no way out of this.

"Nuh-uh!" Marinette shook her head and leaned close to hiss in Adrien's ear, "Chloé is the _last_ person we want to tell everything to!"

"There is no way around it-"

"We could make her leave!" Marinette butted in.

"And it's like he said," Adrien whispered back to her, gesturing to the Healer sitting in front of the box of Miraculous again, "We need as much help as we can get, and Chloé's willing to help."

"I am" Chloé emphasized, trying to listen in on their whisperings but only catching what Adrien said.

"If anything," Alya whispered, leaning in from where she sat next to Marinette and keeping her voice particularly low, "We could erase her memories after this," Adrien's eyes widen at the possibility to taking away the memories of someone else who was close in his life, Alya noticed his panic and quickly added more to explain her statement, "She'd only lose a few days, just until we finish this whole thing."

Alya's confidence that everything with the Miraculous could come to an end in only a few days was infectious, though Adrien couldn't help but have his doubts.

"Fine," Marinette sighed, and looked up to Chloé, "Sit down Chloé, and we'll explain what's going on."

Chloé was hesitant, but eventually sat down next to Nino who had been listening in on their conversation and understood their reasons for letting her in on such a sensitive secret.

They were all silent for a moment as each waited for another to speak up and begin explaining things to her. The Healer was the first one to actually say anything.

"You friends-"

"Classmates," Marinette mumbled in correction, the Healer brushed it off.

"-Are looking to launch an attack on Papillon."

"…But shouldn't just _Ladybug_ and Adrien be doing that?" Chloé asked.

"…" Marinette sighed, "Chloé, _I'm_ Ladybug."

Chloé looked shocked at the statement, if a bit disagreeing, but wasn't given time to say anything as Adrien launched into a full explanation.

"Marinette's Ladybug, a-and I just found out that Papillon is my father. Our Miraculous aren't only just enchanted jewelry, but also come with small, magical creatures called kwamis," The kwamis peeked their heads out from their hiding places when they were mentioned, Chloé's eyes almost popped out of her head, "Papillon has a miraculous too, and we need to get it away from him, and bring it here so that his kwami, who is corrupted, can be rehabilitated. We've been going over a plan to catch them and this man who is a healer to the Miraculous, or something, just gave us a magic box to catch this kwami. He also just gave Nino and Alya their own miraculous to help us fight against Papillon and I think he's going to do the same for you," Adrien took a deep breath after his quick explanation.

"Now hang on, just because we're letting Chloé help doesn't mean she can help out in a Miraculous sort-of-way," Marinette added, looking between the Healer and Chloé who was still processing all the information dumped on her.

"Now why is that?" The Healer asked.

"Listen, I could write a 5-page essay about why Chloé doesn't deserve to have a Miraculous," Was all Marinette said, Chloé looked up at that.

"I could do the same on why you don't deserve to be Ladybug, Marinette," Chloé spat back.

"You'd probably just make Sabrina write it," Nino mumbled, earning himself a quick glare from Chloé.

"The Miraculous are not to be given out haphazardly," The Healer said, he looked directly at Chloé, "You have much potential," Chloé looked smug and Marinette looked like she wanted to refute it, but didn't fight with the Healer, "And your eagerness to help your friend is important, which I why I think the bee would work best for you in this situation."

The Healer handed her a hair comb with top shaped like a bee with its wings out, she took it delicately in her hands and watched with wonder as it glowed and a fuzzy kwami came out. They smiled at her with odd yellow and blue eyes and introduced themselves as "Pollen".

"So… with this, I've have powers and be able to transform like you guys? And I'll be able to help in this fight against your father?" Chloé asked, placing the comb at the base of her ponytail.

"Yes," Adrien confirmed, trying to hide his flinch at the thought of fighting his father, "Pollen will help you out with the details of your powers and we'll help you train so you can use them properly."

She nodded, a determined look in her eyes.

"I've done what I can to help, you best be going now," The Healer said, breaking the pause as he closed the box of Miraculous and got up.

"But wait-" Marinette said, standing up with him, "Can't you help us figure out an actual plan of action?"

He glanced between her and everyone else gradually standing up with her.

"You all capable of something, and you know that, I'm sure you can figure out what to do on your own," He answered, turning and putting the box away into the phonograph, "Try not to overthink it, simple plans can turn out to be the best plans."

Marinette thought over the responce as Alya grabbed her arm and gently led her to the door with Nino and Chloé. Adrien, however, stayed rooted to his place, he still had a few things to ask. The way the Healer looked at him told Adrien that he already knew the questions.

"Adrien will be with you in just a second," The Healer said to the others just out the door, they looked back at him and understood his wanting privacy, and closed the door behind them.

The Healer said nothing, instead looking at Adrien with a patient gaze, waiting for him speak.

"…" Adrien clenched his fists to calm himself for his question, "Memory erasing… What-what all does it entail?"

"It's a harmless process performed by myself and some other kwamis," He responded calmly, "We've done it before. It takes a bit out of the recipient, and they typically pass out after the process, but they'll wake up a couple of hours later, groggy, as if they were taking a nap."

Adrien nodded at that answer, that seemed harmless enough.

"And …does he… does he have to lose all his memories of the miraculous?"

"What are you suggesting?" The Healer asked with a suspicious look in his eyes, though it held no malice.

"Well… maybe if we only take away his memories from the past month?" Adrien curled into himself, despite the Healer showing no disagreement to his suggestion, Adrien could tell he was breaking some unspoken rule by even asking about it, "So… he _would_ remember the Miraculous, but he wouldn't actually know what happened to them or how he lost it."

The Healer had a tired look on his face which he tried to hide by looked down and closing his eyes, but Adrien could still see it. Before Adrien could say anything else, try to take it back, the Healer put his hand on Adrien's shoulder, finally looking back up to him.

"That can only be answered when the time comes."

Adrien frowned, trying not to dwell on the dissatisfying answer as he mentally prepared his last question.

"And- uh -do you know what… my father, wants to do with our Miraculous?"

The Healer furrowed his brows, he actually had to think about this one.

"I, unfortunately do not, there are a variety of reasons for him to want them, but that is an answer only he knows."

Adrien left with nothing but a quiet bow.

* * *

A/N: *me looking at this fic after season 2 episode 11* oh ffs Gabe.

Yaay! I'm finally done! And that wait period is exactly why I shouldn't be allowed to write more than one fic at a time haha. Ok, but also, in the original outline of this fic Alya, Nino, and Chloé never actually got the miraculous, but I realized that I literally couldn't make my story work without including them/giving them proper closure.

Only four or five more chapter to go!


	17. Bella Corruption

Chapter 17: Bella Corruption

They had a week to train. And train they did.

Adrien and Marinette worked hard to make sure that Nino, Alya, and Chloé were up to par and ready to fight. They were all doing well, each connecting with their kwamis and able to use their powers with ease. They would go to school during the day and train well into the evening before each having to return to their parents, well, Adrien returning with Nino to his parents.

As well as training, there was trying to console Nathalie.

She was pushing them harder and harder in an attempt to get Adrien (or any of the others as they weren't good a hiding the fact that they were all in on this) to open up to her about what was really going on. She threatened to call the police and report Gabriel as a missing person on multiple occasions, but Adrien always managed to convince her not to, that he was handling it, and that they knew where his father was.

And they did know where he was, in theory at least.

Tikki was how they would find him, she could sense where her other miraculous was in general and when Marinette was transformed as Ladybug she could track it down to a precise pin point through her yo-yo. But for a week, Papillon kept the Ladybug Miraculous in his own electrum box, where Tikki couldn't sense it, where he couldn't be found. It left Adrien on edge the entire time. And at the end of the week, conveniently on the weekend when they had just gathered to start another round of training, Papillon revealed himself.

"He's taken the miraculous out of the electrum box, I can feel it," Tikki informed them as they got ready for more training.

There was an uncomfortable silence as they all took in the information.

"Alright everyone, this is it," Marinette quickly broke the silence, "He's waiting for us so we'll need to proceed with caution. Transform."

They all transformed in a chaos of yelling and flashing lights, huddling up when they were done.

"Our plan?" Chloé asked, looking at Marinette with worry.

Adrien and Marinette had been discussing the plan on and off throughout the week, admittedly it was mean not to include the others in on the planning, but he and Marinette had the most experience in this. They had agreed to keep it simple.

"Alright," Chat said, pulling the attention to him. Ladybug nodding in approval for him to layout the plan, "Papillon doesn't know about you three, so its best if we hold onto that element of surprise for a long as we can. Ladybug and I will go out to distract him. Chloé, Nino, you two will sneak around and try to pin him down. Alya, since you're the one least likely to freeze or get distracted," There was a shared look between Nino and Chloé at that, they didn't say anything, "So you're going to be the one to grab his Miraculous and put in the electrum box."

Ladybug pulled out the box she had been holding onto for the week and handed it to Alya, who looked at it worriedly in her hand.

"Are you sure?" She asked, nervous about the sudden responsibility.

"Yes," Ladybug confirmed, "You've got this."

"Ok… ok, yeah, I can do that," She responded with more confidence as she took the box. She glanced between the five of them, "Now, names."

"Names?" They all asked her.

"We can't just go calling you two Ladybug and Chat Noir while we use our regular names, we need to keep our identities as anonymous as we can from Papillon. We don't even know it he knows Marinette's identity and that's dangerous."

They all nodded and muttered in agreement, Ladybug being particularly quiet, she must have been worried all week about whether or not she or her family were actually safe.

"I'll go by "Rena Rouge"," Alya said, using the same naming style Chat did for his superhero name. A gleam in her eyes told him that she had been thinking about this since she got the Miraculous.

Chloé and Nino where quiet, thinking about it.

"Queen Bee," Chloé said, in English, Chat didn't know much English but he guessed it was some word or variation of the word "bee" like Ladybug did with hers.

Nino thought about it a little longer before he finally said "Carapace."

"Carapace?" Everyone looked at him, confused, "What's that?"

"Is it like "turtle" in another language or something?" Chat mused, it didn't sound like it was English at the very least.

Nino's eyes nervously darted to the side, "It's…" He trailed, "It's the technical term for the shell of a turtle, the hard top part, or like, the back of a lobster or other crustaceans."

They all blinked at him, not expecting that answer, though Chat chuckled.

"That is the _nerdiest_ thing you could have chosen for a name!" Chat laughed out, the others chuckled as well, loosening up their nerves.

"Oh shut up "Black cat"," Nin- _Carapace_ shot back, his tone of voice silly, "Just- "What color is that cat?" "It's black" "What shall we name it?" " _Black Cat"_."

Chat laughed a bit harder as that leaned out of the huddle. He shook his head in amusement, "Alright, alright," He pointed to each of them as he said their names, "Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, and Carapace."

"Are you ready?" Ladybug asked all of them.

"Ready!" They confirmed, standing straighter. Chat focused on his mirth as much as he could to hide how not ready he really was; a million years couldn't make him ready enough.

Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo and look at it, a pink dot blinked on the edge of the map on her screen. In the center were five other colored dots, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Black, each correlating to the gathered superheroes. The pink dot only told what direction Papillon was in, they weren't close enough to know the exact location yet. With a snap, Ladybug closed her yo-yo and went shooting out in the direction the dot showed her, everyone else following closely behind. Every couple of blocks, she would stop, checking the pink dot again until it moved away from the edge, they were close.

"You three, stay back," Ladybug informed Rena, Bee, and Carapace. They didn't know what was waiting for them at this pink dot, though Chat noticed that they were uncomfortably close to his house, "When Chat buzzes your weapons, you can come find us, be wary."

They all nodded and crouched down on the roof as Ladybug and Chat Noir went leaping ahead. They crossed two more rooftops before Ladybug stopped and pulled out her yo-yo again.

"He's here, right across the street," She said, confirming Chat's worst suspicions.

It was his house.

They circled the area, the rooftops were empty and the mansion looking plain and unguarded, though Chat knew of the heavy security system the building contained. He mentally planned for what path he needed to take to shut off the security, pulling out his baton and sending a buzz to Rena, Bee, and Carapace so they could come closer. He cursed when he looked in one of the windows though.

"Nathalie's there," He said as the others landed besides him and Ladybug. Nathalie was typing away at her computer as if nothing was wrong, but Chat could see by the way she slouched and squinted at the screen before her that something was wrong. The same thing that had been wrong for the past week, "Hang on."

He pulled out his baton and called Nathalie, lowering himself behind the slanted rooftop more so as to not be seen, the others did the same.

His baton buzzed and buzzed until finally Nathalie finally picked up, "Hello?"

"Nathalie, its Chat."

"Adrien," He watched as she suddenly stood up and looked out the window, trying to find him. Chat barely had a moment to be bothered about the name before she shot into a string of questions, "What's going on? Have you found your father? Or, at the very least are you going to tell where you've been hiding him?"

"You need to get out of there," He warned he ominously, ignoring her questions. She looked at the phone like it was crazy.

"What? Adrien, are you okay? What's going on?"

"It's not safe in the house Nathalie, you and the gorilla need to get out of there," He repeated.

"What do you mean?" Nathalie pressed, but grabbed her jacket none the less, looking out the window once again to try and find him, "Have you found your father?"

"Yes," Chat answered, honestly for the first time, "But you two need to get out of the house, it's dangerous inside. Ladybug and I are going to take care of it," Chat purposefully left out the others in case Papillon was somehow listening to the conversation.

"And go where?" Nathalie asked, no longer by the window, he could hear her heels click against the marble floors of the hallways through the baton.

"I dunno," Chat replied indignantly, "Just somewhere safe, away from the house. Somewhere crowded."

Nathalie huffed and Chat could hear shuffling on the other end and mumbled words as she talked to the gorilla.

"Okay, we're leaving," Nathalie finally told him.

"Stay safe."

"Adrien, that doesn't relieve any of my conc-"

He hung up before she could finish, watching as the town car rolled out of the underground driveway and down the street, away from the house. Adrien let out a little breath before returning his attention back to the uncomfortably silent house again, his nerves having increased throughout the whole conversation until he was highly strung.

"Wait for our signal again," Ladybug told the others, they nodded in confirmation. She turned to him with soft eyes, hiding her own fear much better then he was, "You ready?"

"I am," He gulped, then turned slightly to address the others, "Don't be afraid to break a window if the doors lock, and if the security activates, try to get in quick. Its hard to get through once it's up." Another breath, his voice lower, "Don't be afraid to hit him."

He leapt down without a moments notice, Ladybug quickly following after him as they…

As they just walked through the front door.

It was unlocked.

That was too suspicious. Chat held his staff tightly as they took slow steps inside. Ladybug zoomed into the map on her yo-yo so she had a better look at the details of the mansions wall plans, Chat looked over her shoulder.

"He's in the gallery," Chat said. They had checked the windows to that room when they circled the mansion, but didn't see anything inside, it bothered him.

Ladybug followed Chat through the mansion, their steps silent. The security had yet to be activated, despite Chat knowing there was a direct control panel in that room. Ladybug sucked in a breath.

"What?" Chat whispered to her.

"There's a purple dot on my radar now," She informed him, looking at her yo-yo.

He peeked over her shoulder and sure enough, there was a purple dot right next to the pink one, both waiting in the middle of the room. This was not going to be easy.

They finally made their way to the room. The doors were slightly ajar, just enough so that Chat could see the bright light coming through them. The curtains were open for anyone to see, something about that felt wrong. Chat pushed his body against the wall with Ladybug and used his staff to slowly push the door open wider, expecting some kind of projectile to come out and hit the staff. Nothing happened, when the door was completely open, they were met with an uncomfortable stillness. Ladybug shuffled forward, carefully peeking her head around the corner.

Again, nothing happened, so they entered.

From the bright light of outside, Chat could see that his father wasn't there.

"Where is he?" Ladybug murmured Chat's thoughts.

She looked at her yo-yo again. It said Papillon and Ladybug's other earring was here, standing in the conversation pit in the middle of the room, but they saw nothing sitting there. Not a person, not the jewelry. They took more careful steps inside, Chat kept glancing back to the door, expecting it to suddenly slam shut and trap them inside. The lack of action made his hands vibrate.

He shook his head to try and regain some focus and slipped over to where he knew the security panel was. He opened it, and with a careful carelessness, slammed his staff into its center, effectively short circuiting it. The security didn't activate luckily, but Chat and Ladybug jumped when suddenly half of the conversation pit suddenly buzzed and jerked down into the floor by a foot.

They stared, amazed by the sudden exposure of the hidden area.

"Did you… Did you really just break that?" He heard a voice, _his father's voice_ , suddenly come from the opening in the floor, scolding them.

The fact that his father was scolding him seemed more funny than frightening to Adrien, it was a familiar tone, one that Adrien had heard all too many times to count but now could brush it off without so much as a blink.

"For stars' sake!" He heard the gasp in frustration and footsteps. Ladybug checked her yo-yo to see the pink and purple dots move towards the wall, the same place that Chat was, near the security panel. But just a bit past as he was underneath them in some kind of secret room that they couldn't see.

There was the faint sound of buttons being aggressively pushed, and the floor jerked up and down before getting stuck another few inches below where it was before. A growl of anger came from below.

"It's stuck, just…" A bothered sigh, "Just jump down."

Ladybug quickly typed out a message informing Rena, Bee, and Carapace how to get to the room, to be careful and try not to be noticed before buzzing them, letting them know to come down.

She gave a nod to Chat and they went over to the lowered floor panel, twisting and slipping through the opening before jumping down the rest of the way. They landed on the concrete floor with a resounding thud and looked up to see Papillon standing at a security panel just like the room above, a little red "error" signal blinked at him. He paid it no mind, instead watching his two new guests closely.

The room was a significant few degrees colder, made up of concrete walls and a concrete floor. Its round shape held no windows, their only light was a handful of harsh florescent lights scattered throughout the ceiling and the light pouring from the space between the floors. An iron gated balcony lined the walls, allowing for someone to sneak around from above them should they need, Chat hoped the others would notice and use it before jumping down. Papillon took a step away from the panel and Ladybug and Chat crouched in to a defensive, fighting position, holding their weapons tightly.

"No need to be so defensive," Papillon said, "I don't want to hurt you."

"Again, it's too late for that, you've already hurt both of us," Chat hissed back.

"Surely we can talk about this," Papillon almost purred, making Chat's neck crawl.

Of all things Ladybug was the one to lunge first, her yo-yo grabbing the iron balcony and lifting her towards him at a fantastic speed, "We're past words!" She shouted, ready to kick him.

Papillon was quick to act, swinging his cane over his head and blocking her foot. But Ladybug was just as quick, twisting herself around and grabbing the cane with her ankle. She messily jerked the cane out of his hands and let it fly up and land the iron balcony out of reach. She swung around and landed a good few feet away, but Papillon wasn't looking at her.

He was staring at Chat.

His eyes wild and dark as he took a heavy step towards Chat. Chat felt himself tense, despite the weirds leather mask covering Papillion's entire face, Chat knew it was his father now. All he could see was his father as Papillon surged towards him. He couldn't move! He couldn't move!

Out of his peripherals he caught a flickering of light, shadows moving through the space in the ceiling. Papillon barely noticed it too before he was right in front of Chat and reached out. Ladybug yelled and her yo-yo wrapped around Papillon's middle right as he grabbed Chat's hand, he was jerked back, and Chats' ring was pulled off his finger in an instant.

"Carapace, wait!" He barely heard Bee hiss out over the sound of his transformation being released before Carapace came in from the side and slammed into Papillon with his shield.

 _So much for the element of surprise_ Adrien briefly thought in his moment of shock as he watched both the ring and Ladybug's other earring go flying out of Papillon's hand and coat at Carapace's impact. Papillon swung out in and arch pulled by Ladybug's yo-yo until he slammed into the wall. Plagg was immediately at the back of Adrien's neck and stayed close as Adrien managed to bring himself to a moment of clarity and jump forward, rolling over the Miraculous and grabbing them. He held them close to his chest and watched Papillon from a distance.

Ladybug held her yo-yo tight as Carapace ran over to Papillon's crumpled, tied up form while Bee jumped down from the iron balcony next to him. Adrien tried not to feel anything as he watched Papillon roughed up and lying still on the ground, _tried_ not to feel anything as Carapace and Bee pulled him to his knees without struggle. He just slumped in their arms, barely lifting his head enough so Adrien could catch his tired eyes. Adrien knew he was the one who said don't be afraid to hit his father, but it was so much harder to stand by that sentiment when his father just accepted it so early in the fight. Why didn't he struggle? Did he really want this?

"Wait," Adrien said, pulling himself up and taking heavy steps towards his father.

The others looked at him, Rena hadn't come out from her own hiding spot, but he could hear the creak of the iron balcony as she suddenly stopped moving.

"Kid what are you doing?" He heard Plagg mumble in his hair.

He approached Papillon, who brought himself to look a little higher at his own son a few feet away. Adrien kneeled down so he was eye level with the man, holding the Miraculous close to his body should he try anything.

But he didn't.

No instead he stared at Adrien with exhausted, curious eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Adrien asked the simple question that had been eating at him for too long.

The sideways grin his father returned made Adrien's skin crawl.

"Perhaps _she_ should answer this one," He said ominously.

Without a moment's notice, a bright purple light washed over him, leaving Gabriel, plain and true. The butterfly kwami swirled out of it and flew up to Adrien's face in an instant.

"You have to give us the Chat and Coccinelle Miraculous, Adrien," Nooroo immediately began pleading with him, but something in her eyes and in the way Plagg pressed closer made it seem none too kind, "Together, they can be used to bring back your mother."

Adrien couldn't help the sharp inhale of breath as he fell back at the information. Bring back his mother? As in… back from the dead?

"Don't lie to him," Plagg hissed, flying out from behind Adrien to face Nooroo, she backed up and scowled at him.

"Lie to him?" She asked, offended, "You're the one who's lying to him if you haven't told him!"

"We can't bring people back from the dead like that," Plagg said.

"Yes you can!" She yelled back, they circled around each other, "I've _seen_ you do it!"

Suddenly Ladybug's transformation was released, the yo-yo disappearing from around Gabriel and Carapace and Bee quickly catching themselves so they had a tight hold Gabriel. Tikki went shooting out towards Nooroo and crashed into her, pinning her down with the help of Plagg.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Nooroo cried out, "She needs to come back! You can bring her back! I've seen you do it before!" She struggled in their hold, yelling out. She looked at Adrien with desperate eyes as he watched in shocked silence, "The Coccinelle and Chat Miraculous can be used together, creating a hero with unimaginable, god-like abilities. If we use them together, we can bring someone back from the dead! We bring back Emilie!"

Adrien's eyes widened at the information, everyone else in the room held a breath before Tikki quickly cut her off.

"That only works for someone who has recently died, and it does not come without severe consequences!" Tikki and Plagg were jerked up as Nooroo struggled before they pushed her back down again.

"Emilie has been dead for years," Plagg shouted. Adrien had told him all about his mother, using Plagg as something to talk to without any pitying response, as a way to vent. In all their time together, Plagg never actually acknowledge that he was listening, "She can't be brought back. She's gone."

Nooroo wasn't consoled by his softened voice, instead she struggled harder, tears streaming out of her eyes at the information that she never wanted to hear.

"No! No, no, no! You're lying! You're lyin-"

"Rena!" Marinette shouted. In an instant, Rena hopped down from the balcony, landing behind Gabriel. She slipped forward, gently grabbed his head with one hand and reached over his shoulder to grab the butterfly pin on his scarf with the other.

Gabriel didn't struggle as she grabbed it, instead staring down at the concrete floor in a horrified concentration. Adrien realized with a mix of hope and concern that Nooroo must have been lying to his father. One last scream was heard from Nooroo before Rena put the pin into the box and snapped it shut, she disappeared in a little flash of purple light.

They were all silent for a moment, no one moved, no one made a sound as they took in what happened.

Finally, Adrien got up. He took a sluggish step towards his father, looming over him in an exhausted curiosity. His father slowly craned his neck up to look at Adrien, squinting at the light shining behind Adrien's head and into his eyes.

"Adrien…" He said quietly, unsure if he should actually speak. The sudden power Adrien had over his father was odd, but he made it a point not to hold it over him.

"What?" He asked softly, prompting his father to continue, he was curious over what he had to say.

"I never meant…" He started, but paused again, only continuing after Adrien narrowed his eyes in question and nodded, "She said… She said we could bring your mother back. She said that we could draw out the Coccinelle and Chat Miraculous with minimal damage, that we could get them and bring your mother back. It wasn't supposed to last this long. I didn't mean to hurt so many people, I didn't mean to hurt _you_."

"…But-but you did!" Adrien snapped back, feeling his anger rise at his father's attempt to remove any blame from himself, "But you did! You made the choice to endanger the people of Paris the first time, and _you_ made the choice to keep doing it again and again for TWO YEARS!"

Adrien threw his hands up in exasperation, panting heavily and practically seething, the way his father flinched when he yelled ended up leaving a heavy pit in his stomach. No matter how angry he was at his father, he had to be the better person.

"You made the choice to terrorize innocent people, all for one person," He said quieter, having a harder time looking at him, "Their trauma, _my_ blood, is on your hands." He turned away, "Mom wouldn't want this."

He glanced at Marinette, looking worriedly between the two, through his eyes he tried to tell her that he was done. He was tired of this, and no longer wanted to be here. She nodded in understanding.

"Knock him out," She commanded.

There was a pause and Adrien could feel Rena, Bee, and Carapace's eyes on him, waiting for his confirmation. They still needed to bring his father to the healer, and for safety, the Healer's location needed remain anonymous. He nodded his head.

"Wait, wai-"

There was a thud, and the sound of a body collapsing to the floor. Adrien felt himself fall to his knees, exhausted.

However much his father forgot, it didn't matter anymore. For everything, Adrien wished that he could forget it all too.

* * *

A/N: Done. Done, done, done! Omg, I hate climaxes, especially if their action-based. Like, emotional-based one I can do no problem, but action ones? Particularly while trying to coordinate 6 characters all at once, I am not good at that. Pbbth, well, time to wrap things up and set up our resolution. We either got one or two more chapters to go oh boy!


	18. Lost

Chapter 18: Lost

A/N: It's been 8 months. Haha _whoops._ I am so sorry, I have a physical incapability to finish things, and I got really really into Coco.

Also to that guest who asked when Marinette is giving her virginity to Adrien… Idk what fic you're reading but _this_ one isn't it. There is no sex in this, it's rated M because I _stab_ Adrien in the first chapter and _graphically describe his blood_.

Also Also I haven't, like, watched the second half of season 2. I literally got to Rena Rouge's episode and then stopped (probably because of college ( _I finally got my degree_ )) and Netflix is being shitty and not letting me watch it. So, like, I have a vague idea of what happens in the rest of the season but Tbh I really have no idea *shrug*. Anyways here we go.

* * *

Nathalie turned out to be waiting for them, right at the front door.

"What happened?!" She asked upon seeing Gabriel unconscious and tied up with Ladybug's yo-yo, who had since changed back to her costume to remain anonymous.

"Everything's alright," Ladybug responded, a bit gruffly.

"A- who are they?" Nathalie looked between Rena and Carapace, both helping Ladybug carry Gabriel out.

"Friends I recruited to help with the situation," Ladybug answered, again her words were clipped. She didn't look at Natalie, instead staring at Adrien as he followed out the door, leaning heavily on Bee.

Nathalie followed her gaze and was immediately at his side, asking him if he was okay and what happened once again. Adrien felt tired, much too tired to answer her questions, but she needed to know what happened so they could properly proceed. Ladybug looked like she was going to get in between the conversation but Adrien stopped her.

"Papillon…" Adrien began, even now it was hard to say, "Father was Papillon."

Nathalie blinked wide-eyed and open mouthed at Adrien, he adjusted himself to stand straighter next to Bee.

"We found out last week, at the Akuma attack, that's why he hid," He continued, "He stole one of Ladybug's earrings and was planning an encounter, a way to face us one on one again…"

He felt nervous to continue, watching his father's slumped form with Nathalie and unsure of how to really explain what they were doing.

"Are you taking him to the police?" Nathalie asked, her words lacked any kind of emotion, her voice only softened for Adrien's sake, he knew. Her face inscrutable as she watched his father, was she worried? Was she glad? He had no clue.

"No," Adrien answered gently, everyone watched him with knowing looks and gave a silent agreement at his final decision, Plagg pressed deeper to his chest through his pocket, "We're taking him to have his memories erased."

Nathalie looked at him bewilderedly as the others shared looks between themselves, "Erased? His memories _erased?_ " She repeated.

"Yes, father had a Miraculous like Ladybug and I, that's how he was able to become Papillon," Adrien explained further, his voice flat in a way not unlike Nathalie's. However, she was having a harder and harder time hiding it as she watched Adrien with confusion and concern, "But he abused his Miraculous, you know everything that Papillon has done over the years. It's a rule that anyone who abuses their power is to have their memories of the Miraculous erased and their Miraculous confiscated."

There was silence at the end of Adrien's explanation as Nathalie took the information in, and his friends waited for some kind of signal to proceed. He offered nothing.

"We have to get going before he wakes up," Ladybug finally offered, taking control of the situation, they had a limited time frame with Gabriel's unconsciousness.

"…Is there a way I can help?" Nathalie finally croaked out, watching his father again with that blank look. Somehow, even after so long, she would hide all emotions when facing his father.

"You could drive us to where we need to go," Adrien offered, Ladybug immediately frowned.

"Do we really want her to know where things are?" She asked vaguely, giving a look to Adrien.

"Do we really want to carry him all the way there?" Adrien shot back, Ladybug gave a small sigh as she adjusted her grip on his father in agreement, "Besides, less people will see us this way… We don't need to take her to the front door, just get close."

Ladybug nodded and Nathalie quickly guided them to the town car waiting out front. Adrien was glad to see the familiar vehicle and even more glad to see it was alone, the worry that Nathalie had called the police despite his warnings was prevalent, but it warmed him to see that she trusted him at least a little bit.

They approached the car and pushed his father inside as the Gorilla watched in silent questioning from the driver's seat. Unsurprisingly though, he said nothing, aware that Nathalie would inform him as soon as possible and that there was an odd urgency of the situation that required more doing than asking.

"We can't all fit," Adrien commented quietly looking at the limited available seats once they finished buckling his father in.

"Ladybug and you will go in the car to guide Nathalie and make sure nothing happens," Rena began, her voice soft and reassuring, though the suggestion of something "happening" worried Adrien slightly, "The three of us will get there on our own and meet you there. Here," she handed him the electrum box with the papillon Miraculous and Nooroo inside.

Queen Bee looked like she wanted to protest but nodded and agreed, watching and waving with Rena and Carapace as Nathalie climbed in the passenger seat and Ladybug climbed in the back. She sat in the middle, next to his father, to act as a buffer between him and Adrien. While he was glad to have the space, he couldn't help but think of what would happen should his father suddenly wake up, the image of him suddenly whipping around and stabbing Ladybug was the most repetitive one. For some reason he didn't have a face each time Adrien saw it. Why did he suddenly think of that? Why was it repeating? Why wouldn't it stop?

"Turn left at the next light," Ladybug said, breaking Adrien out of his stupor and bringing him back to their current, real presence.

Had he spaced out like that? He peaked out the window past his father's very tied up and immobile form to the street outside, the electrum box warm in his hands, they were practically invisible to the rest of Paris. No one aside from themselves were even aware of what happened, of what was going on. They had defeated Papillon, they had stopped him.

Right under the whole city's noses.

Adrien watched people pass by in complete oblivion to their car as it drove by, it was far different then what he expected. He and Ladybug had only discussed it once or twice over their two years of fighting akumas, they speculated on actually meeting him and finally stopping him. But, until the event, the idea of ever even seeing Papillon or facing him for real always seemed like some kind of far off fantasy. They had never actually seen him for real, directly talked to him outside of that first day. He didn't feel real enough before, like a figure blurring in the fog. Adrien kinda figured he would come out someday, "taking things into his own hands" after so many failures of the akumas, and he always figured that fight would be a public one, something for the whole of Paris to see.

Considering their circumstances, Adrien was immensely glad that it was not.

"Stop here," Ladybug instructed, and the Gorilla pulled over in front of the building right next to the Healer's.

They waited for a moment.

"There are a number of people out there," Nathalie said after the uncomfortably long pause.

Ladybug nodded aware of the situation, anyone of them could see Ladybug and Adrien carrying his father out of the car, there would be questions.

"I'll be right back," Natalie said, opening the door and walking over to the trunk and opening it to rummage around. What she was grabbing, Adrien didn't know.

"You should transform," Ladybug said gently, "Even if people see you, it would be much less suspicious for Chat to be walking around with Ladybug than Adrien."

He called for Plagg to transform him and let the light wash over him from where he sat. He tried to ignore the way the Gorilla's eyes watching him carefully though the rearview mirror and turned to Ladybug, "Tell the others to come down in costume to help, it'd be better if they weren't seen but we need as many hands as we can."

Ladybug nodded in agreement and awkwardly grabbed her yo-yo from where it was still wrapped around his father to quickly type out a message just as Nathalie closed the trunk with a resounding thump. She climbed back into the passenger's seat and moved her arm to the back, holding out a plush blanket they kept in the back for emergencies. Of course, a perfect way to cover him.

Ladybug managed to unbuckle his father's seatbelt and effectively cover him with the blanket just as the others tapped on the glass of the door.

"Stay here," Chat said quietly as he and Ladybug quickly climbed out of the car on his side, there was no answer from Nathalie and the Gorilla but he knew they wouldn't go anywhere.

The five of them moved to his father's side of the car and awkwardly pulled him out as carefully and as quickly as they could while furiously looking around to make sure no one was watching them too closely. Bee led the way as Chat and the others carried his father to the building, slipping in without so much as a question. Everything about the situation felt weird in a way Chat couldn't describe, working with his loved ones to carry his father to a man who was going to erase his memories. With the blanket and the limpness of his father in their hands is was almost as if they were carrying a dead body, like a weird mob going to dispose of a man they killed.

They hadn't killed his father, but if felt as if they were carrying him towards some kind of death.

The door to the Healer's place opened before they could reach it in an expected welcome. He quickly guided everyone inside and closed the door behind them in a way that seemed to seal them off from the rest of the world.

"To the parlor, you can lay him in the middle of the room, the floor will be just fine," He said watching from where he stood at the entrance. He sounded too calm for Chat's liking, as if this was all too routine for him.

They placed his father on the ground with a huff and looked expectantly to the Healer, while his voice was level, his face showed a rather old worry etched into his features. He didn't look at anyone aside from his father's covered form for a long time, everyone twitched at the silence.

"Master?" Ladybug finally asked, her impossibly soft voice breaking the silence and causing the Healer to finally look up at them.

He gave a soft smile that Adrien assumed was supposed to be reassuring but did nothing to quell his growing nervousness at the fact that they were here, they were going to do this.

"You three," He looked between Rena, Bee, and Carapace, "Please release your transformations, and please wait in this room."

They did as asked and swapped places with him between the entrance room and the parlor. The little doorway and the Healer's body separated them from the rest of the room and Chat waited for the Healer to slide the door closed, like he couldn't relax until the barrier was up even though he knew it was far from the truth.

"Nino," The Healer said, looking straight at him in a way that made Nino stand taller, Adrien briefly wondered how he knew his name, not recalling whether or not they gave it to the Healer, "If you please."

He held out his hand and Nino obliged, sliding off the bracelet and handing it over, the Healer held Nino's hand with both of his as he took the bracelet. He gave a quiet thank you before finally letting go and sliding the door closed.

Of course, Chat's tension jumped once they were finally, properly separated.

"If I may?" He asked, holding his hand out towards Chat and reminding him that he still had the electrum box. Chat sheepishly handed it over.

The Healer gave a sigh as he took it, "Poor Nooroo, it's been such a long time."

"What happened to her?" Chat found himself blurting out.

"That should be what I ask you," The Healer responded, walking over to the phonograph and fiddling with it once again in a way Chat could not see.

He thought about what happened and about what she said.

"She… she told my father that we could bring my mom back to life," Chat answered gently, "It sounded like she wanted to bring her back, like she knew my mom…" he trailed off, his words almost disappearing. Had his mom corrupted Nooroo?

"It's very possible that they did know each other," The Healer said, Chat and Ladybug looked at him curiously, "The Papillon Miraculous had been lost for a very long time, then suddenly it was activated some years ago here in Paris. I came in hope of finding her again, then she just as quickly disappeared a second time…"

He gave a long pause, one that made Chat almost scream with anticipation for what the Healer's words implied and what he was about to say next.

"About two and a half years ago, she disappeared once again, her energy was turbulent just before it happened," The Healer answered, Chat sucked in a breath.

"That's… that's when my mom died," He explained, fists clenching at his sides in a weak attempt to relieve the shaking in his hands.

A soft touch on his shoulder caused him to pull up his head from where he had unknowingly began to stare at the floor, Ladybug gave him a reassuring look and his shoulder a squeeze. He forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down.

"You said Nooroo was the one who wanted to "bring her back"?" The Healer asked.

"…Yes, she asked him to give Gabriel the Coccinelle and Chat Miraculous so they could bring his mother back," Ladybug answered after Chat paused for too long, unable to answer, but…

" _Can_ the Coccinelle and Chat Miraculous be used together and bring someone back from the dead?" Chat asked, the question suddenly eating at him as badly as when it had first been suggested by Nooroo.

He didn't look at Ladybug as she squeezed his shoulder again, this time in a more concerning way, and stared at the Healer.

"If someone is recently dead? Yes," The Healer answered bluntly guiding Chat and Ladybug to sit on either side of his father's head as he sat between them, "But the process is not without grave consequences," He continued, saying the same thing Tikki had during the Kwami's wrestling match in the fight.

"Does using the two Miraculous together in general also have consequences?" Ladybug asked from where she sat, staring at the still covered head of his father.

"Indeed, it is powerful, but it saps the energy of the user greatly, it is not to be taken lightly," The Healer confirmed, Ladybug nodded in a knowing way, like she had heard this before, "That is why we must do this together."

"Wait, what?" They both asked, turning to the Healer.

"The process of erasing memories is best when done with multiple people," The Healer explained, a nervousness crawled through Chat at the prospect of having to erase his father's memories himself as opposed to watching it happen, he felt tricked, "It can be performed by one person with multiple Miraculous, but the chance for error is greater and can be quite disastrous if done incorrectly," His calm demeanor as he explained did little to quell the worried looks shared between Ladybug and Chat, "And with the three of us, we can better pin point how much of his memories he'll lose. You wanted him to only lose a few weeks, instead of all his memories of the Miraculous, correct?"

Chat turned shocked to the Healer at his question, "Really? You'll only take away a bit of his memories, not all two years?"

"I've thought about it, and I think your request is reasonable enough, we'll take away his memories from the past month, no less."

There was something in his eyes that he wasn't telling them, but Chat brushed it off as Ladybug asked the other thing that was worrying him.

"Are you sure we'll be able to do this correctly? I mean, we've never done this before."

"I will guide you through the process, I can assure you it is not a difficult one with multiple people," He reassured before suddenly calling out for his transformation. They watched as a green light washed over him from where he sat, interested in the difference between his costume and Nino's, "I suggest we begin sooner rather than later."

He flipped the blanket over, revealing Chat's father's face and causing a panic to run through Chat. _Now?_ They were doing this now? Didn't he get a moment to prepare himself, to consider if he really wanted to do this to his father?

But no, of course, Chat reminded himself, this was something that they were going to do to his father regardless.

"Take a deep breath, I know the two of you are tense," The Healer guided.

They followed his breathing, in and out, slowly, slowly, until Chat could almost feel the tension leave the two of them. With a calm voice, the Healer explained what they needed to concentrate on, he brought their hands up to connect with each other palm to palm. Their hands are all three linked around his father's head in a way that felt cult-like.

"Now repeat after me," the Healer instructed.

The words were odd and foreign, easy to pronounce but unfamiliar between himself or Ladybug. As they repeated the words, the Healer guided their hands down so that the palms now hovered just above his father's face. The act felt odd, and Chat almost lost his concentration as a soft glow came from all around his father head.

 _Concentrate, concentrate_. He thought, continuing the repeat the words.

It feels easier as each second passed, and eventually the words become softer and softer, until they seem to fade away naturally.

The silence of their faded words was broken by a consecutive sigh from all three of them.

"It is done," The Healer confirmed with a small smile on his face, his hands brought together in his lap.

"It's done," Ladybug mumbled in agreement, her head still bent down from her concentration, staring at his father's face.

"…And now?" Chat asked, looking to the Healer for their next instructions.

"You have an hour or two before he finally wakes," He explained, "As I said before, he'll be groggy, as if he had woken up from a nap. It's likely he'll act like however he was from a month ago but with the proper explanation I'm sure he'll be able to adjust easily."

Chat bit his lip at the confident look the Healer gave him. Right, an explanation, he'd need to do that. Stars he hadn't prepared for all this to happen in one day.

* * *

Adrien sat on the desk in his father's home office, watching and waiting for him to wake up. After much discussion they had taken care of Chloé and her memories of the past week even though Adrien still didn't quite agree with it. The other miraculous were returned to the Healer much to the grievance of Alya, and Ladybug promised to take care of Chloé and explain to her the basic of what happened to them without giving away anything too revealing.

Ladybug had the objectively easier part to handle, Adrien did not. He had his father to deal with, and while Nathalie paced around the office in steps that were impossibly quiet with her heels, Adrien still felt utterly alone in the action.

They had laid his father in his office chair for lack of a better place to put him. He slumped in the chair with legs slack and head tilted back in a way that made his mouth gape, if it weren't for the faint breaths coming from his mouth in an almost snore that sounded disturbingly watery, Adrien might assume his father to be dead. He wasn't, though, and the longer it took for his father to wake up, the more agitated Adrien became. Drumming his fingers against the edge of his father's desk, he watched the sky slowly turn to a soft pink, it was already so late, it had already been such a long day, he just wanted to get this over with. Would it be rude to try and slap him awake?

The growl in Adrien's stomach reminded him of how long it had been since he had last eaten as well, he couldn't just leave to get something though. It had been about an hour since the actual mind erasing had occurred, his father could wake up at any minute now as the Healer said, but he also could be waiting another hour as well.

"When was the last time you ate?" Nathalie asked in reference to his stomach.

"I'm not hungry," Adrien mumbled out automatically. By way of his stomach, he knew it wasn't true, but despite all that he really didn't _want_ to eat at the moment.

Fact of the matter was, he didn't really want to do anything at the moment, he didn't want to exist, and he most certainly didn't want to be waiting here to explain to his emotionally constipated father why he wouldn't be able to remember the past month. For lack of actually being able to leave though, responsibility really was one of his many curses, he simply sat on the desk and waited, pretending in that moment that he didn't exist.

Unfortunately, Nathalie wasn't going to let him do that as she walked around the desk and leaned on it next to Adrien, watching his father with her ever blank gaze.

"What are you going to tell him?"

"I'm going to tell him he's been an enormous dick," Adrien said dryly.

"Even if you told him, I don't think he'd really understand how true the statement really is," Nathalie replied with her own dry tone.

Adrien managed a snort, Nathalie wasn't one to mutter or even talk behind her employer's back, but there were sometimes when she and Adrien would take to poke fun at him. He knew that after particularly difficult seasons in his father's work that she could get irritated with him, he never knew how deep it ran. Adrien was just glad that she was showing some kind of opinion for his father's current position, he didn't really want someone who was impartial at the moment, he wanted someone that also knew his father just as well as he did to have the same contempt for him as Adrien did at this moment.

"Is that all?"

"No, I'm going to let him know that I know who he was and what he did. I'm going to tell him what we did, and that we took away his miraculous," Adrien said. He signed, he really wanted to ask his father more about his mother, about the miraculous and how they knew everything about it, about what they were doing with Nooroo, but that wasn't a conversation for today.

"Do you want me to leave?" Nathalie asked gently, and Adrien realized that there was much that they had taken care of to make sure she wouldn't know about which would come up in the upcoming conversation. Frankly, he didn't care, Nathalie wouldn't really do anything with this information, and the same things he would tell his dad would lack the obvious and most endangering details.

"Please don't," Adrien answered, "I'm…scared."

"Of?"

"I don't know, I don't think he'll hurt me… but, learning all this, of everything that he's done," Adrien licked his lips looking out past his father once again to see the sky slowly drift into a darker and darker shade, "It scares me. I feel like I don't know what he's capable of, I don't know how far he's willing to go."

Nathalie said nothing, watching the sky along with him with pinched eyebrows.

"He was trying to bring back mom."

"…From the dead?" Nathalie asked, turning to Adrien, she looked more confused by the statement than anything. He nodded, "…How?"

"He was misinformed," Adrien tried to explain, "The miraculous he had, she… she knew my mother. I… I think she was there when my mother died." He curled into himself from atop the desk, watching his feet sway back and fourth above the ornate carpeting. Nathalie, still unaware of the existence of kwamis and probably still unsure if the miraculous were sentient, thankfully didn't ask him questions or interrupt him, "She told my father that he could bring her back to life, with my and Ladybug's miraculous. She thought that they had a power to bring people back from the dead," and technically they _did_ , "But she was wrong. And dad did all this for nothing."

The last part was muttered rather bitterly, he couldn't help but feel like his entire effort as a "superhero" was subverted by what was the basic rules of life and death. He also couldn't help but find that he did hope that Nooroo was correct, he wanted his mother back dearly.

His father suddenly jerked, causing Adrien and Nathalie to look up at him in curiosity and worry, another watery gasp escaped his father's throat in a way that would have been funny were it not for the current circumstances. His head flew forward with wide eyes, red around the edges from his "rest", as he gripped the arms of the chair to keep himself from slipping out.

 _He'd have to settle his having his father back for now._

"A-Adrien! Nathalie! Wh-what are…" His father blinked rapidly, pushing up his askew glasses and looking between them with absolute confusion. Adrien couldn't help but feel mild irritation that despite what the Healer said, this was _not_ how his father would awaken from a nap. Not that he really knew what that would look like, that man did not nap, nor did he sleep regularly in preference to work late in the night, "We're not in the hospital. Adrien, your… you're okay?"

Adrien felt his skin crawl as he recalled what was a month ago, of course, it was only a short time after he was stabbed, his father was still… reeling with guilt, probably.

" _He asked me for my miraculous, when I wouldn't give it to him… he, he demanded it."_ He remembered Marinette telling him later on, once during their initial training. That was only shortly after Adrien had initially woken up in the hospital, was his father really reeling with guilt if he was doing that?

He was very aware of the ring hanging around his neck and under his shirt for some kind of false security, to his father it was invisible. For more precaution, Plagg wasn't right by Adrien, he resided somewhere in the room, near the top book shelves where no one could see him or attempt to steal him without some help from a ladder, in which Plagg could get away.

"I'm fine dad," He said, unsure of how else to begin his explanation.

"H-how?"

"That was over a month ago," His father's eyes bulged and he looked ready to start saying something, but Adrien put his hand up, amazingly enough, his father remained silent. Adrien took a deep breath to ready himself, "I know you are, and what you've done," He chastised himself at the way his voice warbled, his father watching him with unnervingly blank eyes, "Your miraculous was confiscated."

"What-" His father began, a twinge of irritation spreading on his face.

"Nooroo lied to you!" Adrien glared, as if daring his father to challenge him, "She lied to you, we can't bring mom back. The Chat and Coccinelle Miraculous can't do that, she's gone."

The pause from his father as he contemplated this information made Adrien more and more jittery.

"…Is that what _they_ said?" His father said lowly, finally taking his eyes off Adrien to glance to the side of the room.

Anger erupted though Adrien at his father's comment, of all the things for him to say! Adrien clenched his fist and slammed it against the surface on the desk he sat on, causing the pens to rattle and his father to look back up towards him. Nathalie's hand hovered for a moment before landing on his shoulder, the comforting gesture was ignored in favor if yelling.

"Even if it was what _they_ said that still doesn't forgive all the bullshit you've been doing!"

"Language," His father muttered in the most aggravatingly undermining way.

"Are you listening to me?!" Adrien yelled, "You've been terrorizing the entirety of Paris! You've been wreaking havoc on innocent people, and for what?! To bring back mom?! Why did you think that was okay?! What on earth…" Adrien suddenly remembered that his father didn't remember what he said at the fight, he didn't know that the fight even happened.

In a fit of anger, he pulled up his shirt, showing off the scar in his side, it wasn't in bad condition, it wasn't disgusting or frightening like Adrien would have expected it to look like in movies, and yet his father stared at it with absolute horror, as if he had forgotten about it in their moment of yelling and bringing him back up to speed. His father's sudden guilt both gave him a sick amount of pleasure and fueled his anger, "This is your fault. I was stabbed and hospitalized because of _you_! It doesn't matter what Nooroo said, what you did wasn't okay, people got hurt."

He took a breath to try and calm down, dropping his shirt to hide the scar, he just wanted this to be over with. There was no need for some soft and flowery explanation of what happened, his father didn't deserve it, "Nooroo was corrupted and you abused her power for your own gain, because of that we took your memories from the past month away and took your miraculous away to be healed."

Adrien got up from the desk, shrugging off Nathalie's hand and walking towards the door.

"Only a month?" His father said, his tone was light and rather unconcerned. Adrien stopped besides himself, but didn't turn around to face him, "Nooroo said that if someone ever got me, they would take away _all_ of my memories of the miraculous."

"I didn't want you to lose all two years of your memories," Adrien explained, keeping his voice flat, he couldn't help but growl the next part though, even with knowing the consequences his father _still_ went through with acting as Papillon, "Be grateful I didn't take all of that away."

 _Be grateful I didn't make you go through the pain of mom's death a second time._

"Two years, huh?" His father repeated as Adrien finally stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

A/N: Done I am fucking done with this chapter, oof. I'm glad this one came out longer 'cause for a while I wasn't sure if I could make it past 3,000 words. 2 more chapters left after this, I gotta figure out how to properly wrap this all up.


	19. Feathered Nonsense

Chapter 19: Feathered Nonsense

A/N: Reminder that I haven't seen the second half of S2 and therefore haven't seen Mayura, so these are all my own headcanons about the Peacock Miraculous, and I forgot how season 2 started. (also jfc we're already into S3 I'm so behind on this show)

* * *

Adrien was avoiding his father.

It wasn't hard to do, after their uncomfortable "talk" (if it could be called that) and a brief reacclimation time of not even half a day following, his father threw himself into his work. This familiar ghost of his father that would jump from one studio to the next and to office after office was welcome, even if it reminded him too much of how his father was immediately following his mother's passing.

Adrien had been at odds with himself for much of that time, desperately wanting to ask _what_ had happened to his mother as the mystery of her death apparently wasn't so much of a mystery now as it was an elaborate lie crafted by his father, and not wanting to even look at the man, much less interact with him, for sheer disgust and anger at the situation. He tip-toed along the week in a confused haze and tried his best to focus on the abundant distractions around him, which seemed to be the only thing keeping him from falling apart.

School was a welcome normalcy and seeing Chloé again with a look of complete contentedness as she greeted him was both good and confusing to say in the least. She wasn't angry, she wasn't bothered, in fact she seemed quite happy, Adrien hadn't expected that.

"Ladybug explained everything," she said with a wink as she pulled him over to the side, her voice surprisingly low as she took the moment for something actually private, "She told me that I was able to help you two out," Marinette apparently hadn't mention Rena and Carapace, or even Alya and Nino's involvement. So far, they had yet to see any news of the five of them being spotted, which was good for helping keep everything on the down low, as is, they had yet to actually try and discuss what to do next, "And about losing the week for "miraculous secrets"," Chloé looked a bit bothered at that but the smile was still on her face, she was surprisingly understanding, "I'm sure it won't hold me back too much... I'm just," she looked him back in the eye, her own glittering, "I'm glad I was able to help you Adrien, and while I don't know how I helped… I'm glad you let me help you."

Adrien smiled, it reminded him so much of how they acted as kids, more genuine, with less of the walls that Chloé had built around herself. Sure, she only seemed to let them down around him, but the period of her putting up her personification around _everyone_ had lessened now. How silly that he only needed to be stabbed for such a change to occur.

"You really did help, and while Ladybug wasn't too fond of the idea of letting anyone else in on this… I'm glad you were able to help us too, thank you," Adrien smiled at her as she pulled her arm off his shoulder.

"I'm sure I'll be a permanent resident on your team in no time!" She said with another wink before they each headed to their own seats.

 _I wouldn't be so sure about that_ , as it was, he wasn't even sure if he and Ladybug would even be needed as a team again. The Healer hadn't mentioned anything about them returning their Miraculous but their whole point of being around was to take on Papillon and his Akumas, sure they took on the occasional "civilian issues" so to say, but for the most part the police could handle those, without them, Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't really have a definite purpose to stay around. They didn't have a definite reason to keep their miraculous. So why keep them?

It was something they ended up discussing after school that day, along with Alya and Nino of course, as they converged at Marinette's house. Adrien didn't take the effort to ask his father if he could go, he didn't have the same overload of activities to manage and his father didn't deserve that kind of asking for permissions, he simply told Nathalie where he would be and let her handle his father.

While Marinette was an articulate amplifier to his worries, Alya and Nino were fantastic and helping them both keep level heads.

"What if he knows that something is going to happen again?" Marinette asked, fingers drumming over her cup of tea as she sat on the floor with them.

"Like what? We took the Miraculous away, there isn't anything else that could cause that damage," Alya supplied.

"We don't know that, as is, we know there are other Miraculous around, who's to say there isn't another corrupted Miraculous out there for us to had to deal with?" Adrien countered, "We don't know that much about the Miraculous."

"That's true, but if there was something else to this, wouldn't the Healer would take it upon himself to warn you?" Alya asked.

"We were thrown into the business of Miraculous without so much as a warning," Marinette deadpanned, Adrien nodded in agreement, "Why would he give us a warning now?"

"Well, we can ask Tikki and Plagg, surely they know something about the Miraculous," Nino said, giving a very pointed look to the two kwamis who sat on Marinette's desk watching over the group clustered on the ground nibbling on their own food and pretending to only be observers of the conversation.

Everyone else turned to look at them, they straightened under the curious gazes and Tikki finally sighed.

"It is best that we stay by your side," she began, "Not for the worry that something will happen… immediately, but for the fact that it would be useful for us to stay with our bonded partners."

"Bonded partner? Is this something like a companionship?" Nino asked.

"That's exactly what it is," Plagg nodded, Nino straightened at the confirmation, "After spending enough time together, we are bonded to you. As such, we work best with you for keeping the balance. Sure, if you _truly_ don't want the miraculous you can return us, this isn't a "until death do us part" situation."

"But we'd rather stay by your sides," Tikki rushed to reemphasize, clearly uncomfortable with the suggestion of being separated.

"Okaaay," Marinette said, dragging out the word to emphasize her unsureness about the situation still, "And, what of this "keeping the balance" thing you mentioned, you seem to imply that something else might occur."

"Something might," Plagg confirmed with a shrug, Tikked bumped into him and gave a pointed glare as the others shared looks of worry.

"The Miraculous are used for a number of reasons, not just fighting each other," she explained, her voice warm and strong to quell any growing panic, "As such, wielders are chosen throughout time to take up the mantle of their Miraculous to take care of things, to keep balance to the world. Adrien and Marinette were chosen to solve a long-term problem, to take care of Papillon and eventually stop the Papillon Miraculous from its continued corruption. Even though that has been taken care of, it's best that we stay by your side to keep balance even if imbalance is not immediately apparent."

They shared another look, Marinette echoing Adrien's own expression of worry, the vague answers weren't exactly the most comforting.

"So," Alya said, breaking the silence, "If something happens, it happens, but it's best that we not think too hard about it."

"Yes," Tikki agreed with a relieved smile, Plagg nodding beside her, "I know you all want to worry, but the immediate threat of Papillon is taken care of, he is-" her eyes flashed to Adrien in a betrayal of her confidence, "No longer a problem."

Adrien curled into himself, picking up on the double meaning of her words, _no longer a problem for them_. Nino wrapped an arm around his shoulders, sensing his turmoil, Adrien leaned into the welcome touch.

"…Lets, talk about something else, _do_ something else," he needed a distraction, anything, _something_ , to take his mind off of this nonsense for the time being.

There was a murmur of agreement as they reshuffled themselves around Marinette's room and ended up playing a movie on her computer whilst all converged on the floor and partially wrapped in blankets. He half watched what was going on but more focused on the warm feeling of having his loved ones close to him.

Alya, Nino, and Marinette were the only reason he could get through the week, the four of them would meet each day after school and bounce between the three homes, doing homework and helping Adrien feel entirely normal. As Plagg put it in a conversation they had one evening, when Adrien had successfully holed himself up in his bedroom for the night, Alya, Nino, and Marinette were his balance. He refrained from asking more about it, recognizing that Plagg had already grown bored of the conversation and would likely give him vague answers should he try to push the subject, and instead elected to ask Tikki about it for a hopefully more straightforward explanation.

"What does Plagg mean when he says Alya, Nino, and Marinette are my balance?"

"Balance?" Alya asked, halfway through pulling her homework out of her backpack.

Marinette and Nino peeked up from where they were each stirring the tea Marinette had brought up and shared the same questioning look.

"Yes, balance, it was something Plagg had mentioned during one of our conversations, he said that you three are my balance," Adrien glanced over at said kwami who was blissfully holding up his after-school snack cheese -A reward (bribe) for enduring the day and not throwing a fuss- without so much as an acknowledgement to the conversation at hand, Adrien rolled his eyes and turned back to Tikki, "What does that mean?"

"Well," Tikki began, settling herself down on Marinette's desk where what looked like a tiny bed for a hamster, or something equally small, sat perched probably just for her. The four of them watch her closely, interested in what she had to say, "Plagg and I are opposites of each other, creation and destruction, in working together, we balance each other out."

Said Plagg was finished with his cheese all to quickly and flew over to settle by her side in the bed, Adrien observed and mulled over their differences. They weren't clear on a surface level, red was not the opposite of black, Tikki even had black in her look, cats were not the opposite of Ladybugs. But their representations and their personalities were opposites, Tikki was warm and supportive while Plagg was stubborn and cryptic, and as Tikki said their abilities were opposites as well, creation and destruction. As well as luck, now that he thought about it, they were opposites in how they represented luck, Ladybugs being considered good and black cat's being considered bad.

"You and Marinette were each chosen not only for the fact that you work best with each of us, but also that you work best with each other as a counter balance," Tikki continued, Adrien glanced at Marinette, who was watching him with the same interested look. They weren't really opposites of each other, at least not now, sure they were different, both as their civilian selves and as their hero counterpart, Marinette being headstrong and a natural leader, Adrien being submissive and eager to please, Ladybug being serious and Chat being, well… not. Though Tikki had used the word "counter-balance" instead of "opposites".

"The world is full of balances, but no balance stays still and perfect. They fluctuate, becoming imbalanced, wars breakout, couples argue, storms blow by, the natural rhythm of the world is to create a counter balance to keep things together until the next fluctuation occurs, peace treaties are signed, couples make up or split up, the storm ends. After… The event-" Tikki glanced at Adrien as she said it, he sat up straighter, "There was a shift, you two weren't counterbalancing each other so much as you were, emulating each other."

Adrien thought about it, it didn't seem like that, he once again turned to Marinette, who cocked her head much like he subconsciously did as she watched him, probably thinking about the same thing. Did they emulate each other? They still had their distinct differences, in fact Adrien recalled them arguing about returning his ring, they still had different ideals. Though Adrien found himself over-thinking things more, which was something Marinette did, and he was willing to argue more, not dance around the subject to please the other person, which was something Marinette also did. He found himself mulling over his conversation with Nino before, when he asked if the event had affected Adrien psychologically. At the time, it hadn't seemed evidenced to have done anything to drastically different to him, but… sometimes it's hard to remember that you were ever different before, one typically assumed they were always the way they were.

"You became more stressed, Adrien," Plagg supplied.

"So did you, Marinette," Tikki added looking to her, Marinette snorted.

"I'm always stressed," she said.

"Like a stress sham-wow," Alya joked, Marinette snorted again.

" _More_ stressed," Tikki emphasized, "Your relationship needed a counter balance, and as such, you two naturally drifted to Alya and Nino. The four of you balance each other out very well, you work good together."

Adrien found himself smiling at the thought, looking over the other three. Nino grinned back and chuckled.

"Relationship status: Counter balance," he mumbled, the others heard him and all laughed.

"What _is_ our relationship?" Marinette asked, leaning casually on her arm, she looked from one to another to another, her face getting redder and redder with each one of them.

"Well I for one, love you three ding dongs," Alya proudly said, they all grinned at her, "And I would gladly die for all of you."

"Please don't" Adrien and Marinette muttered at the same time while Nino looked Alya dead in the eye and said, "Then perish."

The four of them stopped and giggled again.

"I love you three too," Marinette said once their giggling died down, their grins each grew wider and Adrien and Nino nodded along in their own comments of "Me too."

"Come here, come here!" Alya sang, holding her arms out to all of them, they each shuffled over to her in a messy hug, she gave each of them a kiss on the cheek.

Plagg loudly gagged, causing the four of them to all glance up at him.

"And I thought it couldn't get any worse," he grumbled.

"It always gets worse to you," Tikki commented with a roll on her eyes as she smiled down at them.

"Human romantic emotions are gross," Plagg stuck his tongue out.

"Plagg, your affinity for cheese is gross," Adrien deadpanned, a thought crossed his mind and he smirked, "And you're just going to have to watch as I smooch all of them!"

He did just as promised, taking each of them and giving them a big kiss, of which they each reciprocated eagerly. Plagg's gagging got louder and they all laughed. Things felt better, he felt good. There was an overwhelming happiness Adrien felt at the moment, and he didn't want it to end.

* * *

The weekend was when Adrien finally felt ready enough to approach his father. It was a simple maneuver to trap the man who had spent the week avoiding Adrien as much as he had been avoiding him back, find out his schedule from Nathalie, ask her about an open block he has, and trap him in his office for questioning. His father showed his discomfort the only way he knew how to show his discomfort, buy staring blankly at Adrien and hiding his hands, from years of experience, Adrien knew he was wringing them together. Their conversation was going to be a difficult one.

"How did you meet Nooroo? How did you know about the miraculous? Did you corrupt her?" Adrien fired off, looking awkwardly from side to side, before looking his father hard in the eyes, "How did mom die?"

It had been one question burning in the back of his mind since the actual event of her death, labelled as a "mystery" by his father and even the private investigators he eventually hired. The pained way his father's adam's apple bobbed answered the uncomfortable truth that had been dwelling in his thoughts since Nooroo's reveal, his father knew. He knew what happened to her, he knew how she died. Had he seen it himself?

He wanted to ask the million other questions he had swirling in his head, but waited, patiently, agonizingly, staring hard into his father for some kind of answer to come out. Waiting for an explanation that will likely hurt him, but that he needed to know. Please, answer his question.

"Your…" His father began, his words quiet and lacking emotion, but Adrien could see everything in the slight contortions of his father's face that the topic was a distressing one for him to address. Adrien didn't care, he leaned farther forward, he needed to know, "Your mother was killed by one of Nooroo's akuma."

Adrien felt his chest constrict, killed, murdered, by an akuma. But Nooroo had been so determined to bring his mother back, how could she be the one to have killed her? He wanted to scream, to shout for more explanations. What did that mean? That made no sense!

"…I-I don't understand," was all he managed to wheeze out.

He father took a deep breath, hiding the sigh that came from the exhale with a tilt of his head as he looked down at his hidden hands. He barely licked his lips before finally speaking once again.

"I suppose I should explain, from the beginning?" He breathed out.

Adrien nodded eagerly back and his father sighed once again.

"…Your mother, had a miraculous by inheritance," His father began, Adrien sat up straighter at the newfound information, "It was something used and passed down from your great grandfather, to your grandmother, to her. The peacock, Dutsuu, was used for many reasons and kept in her family for… longer than any miraculous has been kept, and probably would have eventually been passed to you if things had not turned out the way they did."

Adrien's head spun, _peacock?_ A peacock miraculous?! This had never been brought up before, how did a peacock come involved in this situation? He looked pleadingly at his father for further explanation, biting his own tongue for the whole new barrage of questions that one little detail had suddenly brought.

"People didn't know about the miraculous the way that she and her family did, the few of us that are enlightened to their existence have limited information overall unless they are protectors themselves," he looked to the side, a dreamy spark in his eye that Adrien hadn't seen since he was a child, when his father would gaze lovingly at his mother, it was more pained now, the thought of her tainted by her death, but still his father continued, "Your mother knew a lot about the Miraculous, she was born to use and care for them. It was an incredible purpose to have, and she fulfilled it fantastically." He closed his eyes at the thought, letting the idea of an alive Emilie full of purpose settle in their minds.

"As your mother and I became closer, she taught me about the Miraculous, she trusted me with this information," there was a trace of guilt in his father's voice, guilt of having betrayed her trust, and while Adrien felt a little flare of anger at _that_ being the thing his father showed guilt for (as well as the scar on Adrien's abdomen), he couldn't help but realize what his father meant by his "two years" comment. He hadn't known about the miraculous for just the past two years, he had known about them for many, many years perhaps, even before his parents were married. If they had taken _all_ of his father's memories away, he wouldn't even know who Adrien was, he wouldn't know what happened to all of his life, he really would have lost his father, in more ways than one. His father just continued as Adrien stared at him.

"She had been searching for Nooroo, knowing that she had been lost sometime after her corruption. Some years after we were married, she received information that Nooroo might be lost in Tibet, so we went, and we found her," There was a small frown to his father's face, this was the turn to the story, Adrien let knowing dread seep slowly through him, "She was, horribly corrupted, defensive at everything, and most of all, terrified of your mother and I. Your mother was determined to help her though, to fix her corruption, and we worked together to do so, but that's a slow process even when you're not trying to work and raise a child at the same time," Adrien tilted his head, interested that Nooroo had been around during his youth, and that he had never noticed, "Emilie would make champions, good ones, using the papillon miraculous the way it was supposed to be used, but, Nooroo's corruption ran deep, even with Emilie's effort, not all of them were good, many still came out as Akumas. She gave me the Peacock Miraculous to help manage the Akumas until she could relieve them, Dutsuu and I were… functional, together," Adrien nodded along as he listened, overwhelmingly curious as to _where_ this other miraculous was now, and what his father had done with them, but waiting for more to be explained.

"Over the years, Nooroo and your mother became very close, some of Nooroo's corruption had lessened, she adored Emilie," his father paused, Adrien knew what was coming next, "…One of the akuma your mother made was, particularly bad, too difficult for me to contain, too crafty for your mother to handle, and… it killed her," They were quiet again, even though it was the second time in the hour Adrien had been hearing this, somehow this second telling hit him harder, knowing more of everything that he knew, remembering the day he received the news.

It was a normal day, activities, study, his mother and father were both at work, they collaborated, he knew, otherwise his mother was at home most of the time, caring for him or doing her own personal work. Helping Nooroo, he now knew, that must have been her work, he never had a straight answer before. And then the day ended, and it was a catastrophe, his mother was dead, his father was a mess, and there was a slew of police officers and detectives questioning and interrogating everyone. In the end, everything could only be labeled as a mystery, Adrien wondered where Nooroo and Dutsuu were during all that hell, that chaos.

"The akuma was, bad, the only reason I hadn't died too was because the host died shortly before it could really get to me," Adrien stared hard at his father, someone else died too? Adrien vaguely remembered that, there was news of another young man having died the same day under equally mysterious circumstances. But there were over 2 million people in Paris, it could have just been a coincidence. What did his father do with that young man? Adrien couldn't even remember what was said to have happened to the man through the grief of his mother's recent death, perhaps his father was the same.

"Nooroo and I handled the akuma," _the butterfly_ , Adrien reminded himself, "Dutsuu locked himself away in his miraculous, he was bonded to your mother before having to work with me, he was just as distressed at having to see her die… and seeing how Nooroo and I worked together, I think he knew what was going to happen, how she and I we going to fall into madness together, so he hid himself away. Nooroo and I wanted her back, and she promised she knew a way to bring your mother back with the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous," Adrien nodded along, already knowing this, "So we made a few akuma, pulled the other Miraculous out of hiding… I never wanted you to get involved."

Adrien put his hand up, effectively silencing his father, he didn't want to have that part of the conversation with his father again, "If it wasn't me, it was going to be someone else, and considering how bad it was," _how far it went_ , "That doesn't make it okay, what you did wasn't okay, and what Nooroo told you about the Coccinelle and Chat Miraculous being able to bring someone back from the dead was false- And before you try to blame it on what _they_ said," Adrien was still furious at that comment from his father, "Consider that Nooroo was corrupted, and her judgement was horribly skewed for the situation at hand."

His father was quiet but nodded along, not quite looking at Adrien as he bore his eyes into the man before him, trying to determine what he might do or say next.

"What you and Nooroo did was wrong," Adrien said, he waits for his father's reaction, to refute it, to try and justify himself.

He turned to the side, there's a twitch in his eye, like he's fighting with himself, and pain, a painful realization.

"You're right," his father whispered, Adrien almost didn't hear it despite his concentration. He slowly turned to face Adrien, grey eyes meeting his, asking for forgiveness, but Adrien is unwilling to give it. Admittance, is just one step, it's just the beginning, there's more work for his father to do.

"You need help," Adrien said, his father's silent pleading fell in a moment and he raised an eyebrow in question, "A therapist," His father's expression quickly fell to the same blank stare, familiar, blank, quite possibly bored with the conversation, but unmoving from where he sat, "You need to see a therapist."

Technically Adrien should see a therapist as well, he should have seen one after his mother died to try and help him, but his father put the house on lock down any possible idea of letting anyone else in was thrown out. He should see one now, and so should Marinette, with everything they've been through.

…But…

"And who exactly am I supposed to talk to about this?" His father asked the question that held Adrien down, "Our circumstances are not exactly normal, nor are they allowed to be exposed."

"…The Healer," Adrien finally answered after drumming his fingers over the chair's arm as he thought hard about it, "The Healer should know someone."

His father stared hard at him, seeming to both know and not know who "The Healer" was, Adrien offered no other explanations. His father nodded, "Okay, do that."

Adrien hid his surprise at how agreeable his father was being, it was suspicious to some aspect, but it was good, he needed this, it was the right option. He planned how to go about arranging some kind of meeting, if they were to meet, Adrien would have to arrange for the Healer to come here or for them to both come to a neutral location. He glanced back up to his father, who stared at his desk, seeming to mull over something. What had he thought about over the past week, to become so accommodating, had he truly realized that Adrien was right? Adrien couldn't be so sure anymore.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" His father finally asked, Adrien thought over it, as far as he was aware, his father had answered all of his questions.

Certain there was something he was forgetting, Adrien nodded his head, "Yes," he could ask later if he recalled, he'd force his father into as many uncomfortable conversations as possible, he wasn't allowed to run anymore.

His father bobbed his head in agreement, as if dismissing Adrien, and he was about to leave, but his father spoke again.

"I've thought about this for most of the week," his voice was low, not angry, just nervous, in the only way his father can be nervous. Adrien leaned forward in anticipation, his father took a deep breath, "Come with me."

There was so much in those words, and Adrien's mind couldn't help but scream "danger!" as his father slowly rose from his seat and walked around the desk. His legs betrayed his and he got up to follow after as his father opened the door to his office, he looked surprised, as if he wasn't expecting the door to be unlocked. They walked out and Adrien spotted Nathalie sitting on a couch down the hall, tablet in hand, close enough to listen should anything happen, but casual enough to appear as if she was just working. She turned her head to the two of them, looking at Adrien to ask what to do, what the situation was. Adrien gave a little bob of his head, and she got up to follow, his father, aware of her presence, didn't seem to mind the clack of her heels from a distance.

Down the stairs and around the corner, they entered the gallery, the floor having been repaired from its stuck position and the room having been closed off to everyone for the better part of the week. Adrien had watched the closed doors as he passed them each morning and evening, but never attempted to go back into the room, he didn't want to see it again, to remind himself of what happened in there. It never worked though, he thought, and he thought, and he thought about it. Now they were waltzing right through, going right up to the painting of his mother that hung on the back wall.

His father turned around, and looked at Nathalie standing near the entrance of the room, silently he looked to the window. Adrien was worried he was making her leave, but she simply turned to face the window, not leaving the room, but not facing them directly, not watching what ever his father was about to do. If anything, she could still hear everything that was about to happen, and still intervene if it came to it, but Adrien was still on the defensive. Turning back to face the painting, Adrien watched as his father grabbed the side and opened it, his mouth falling open as the same speed.

There was a safe behind the painting, behind his mother's painting, Adrien never even knew about it. His father typed in a code, obscured by his body, and Adrien watched with even more amazement as the safe opened to reveal a whole treasure trove of items.

His eyes flashed from one item to the next, trying to take in as much as he could see around his father, some trinkets, a pamphlet of Tibet that now make his heart clench with the newfound information, a number of mysterious books, and a framed picture that Adrien had drawn of the three of them together. So many things that had meaning to his mother, Adrien wanted to stare more but his father turned around, his hand closed around something he must have grabbed from within the safe. He gestured for Adrien to put out his hand, and he did so, slowly, worried about what his father might give him.

Cold hands wrapped around Adrien's, his father's hands were always impossibly cold, like a doctor's, and surprisingly calloused for a fashion designer's. That wasn't as important though as the cool metal that touched Adrien's hands.

"The Peacock Miraculous," his father said, "As per your inheritance, do with him what you will. Your mother would have wanted this," his voice was painfully soft as he slipped his hands from Adrien's revealing the colorful peacock brooch in his hand, "I know you'll do the right thing."

* * *

A/N: Man I am terrible at writing romance shit and I guarantee you that 90% of what took this chapter so long was my inability to write anything romantic. And if y'all remember back in chapter 4 I said the book thing from Volpina didn't happen (because I forgot about it akdjshgj) and I just wanna remind y'all about that.

ONE. MORE. CHAPTER.


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